Censorship has been on the increase for a long time in Kazakhstan, but now it is reaching new heights. And it’s not only journalism that is being “regulated”, but business, legal practice, bailiffs and other areas.
As a rule, journalists are not usually openly pressured in Kazakhstan: they’re not imprisoned, threatened with reprisals or murdered. Journalists are usually pressured via their editorial offices and so-called “editorial policy”.
There’s also leverage via state advertising commissions: there are practically no publishing outlets in Kazakhstan that are independent of state commissions and funding. “He who pays the piper calls the tune,” as the saying goes.
