neweurasia on Kazakhstan Blogging and Media Law

Over at neweurasia Kazakhstan, Leila is wondering about what Kazakhstan's media law and a government promise to consider new policy on regulating the internet might mean for bloggers. She asks:

"What about blogs? A relatively new phenomenon in Kazakhstan ... There are about 16,000 Livejournals registered in Kazakhstan, 6,000 of them based in Almaty (the number of people actually maintaining diaries is not confirmed).* Only some blogs discuss politics and offer analysis of news and events. Could these diaries become subject to information and media laws? In my opinion, yes, and if so, this is not a good development for Kazakhstan."

The internet's greatest potential is also perhaps the most important cause of confusion about its legal status: it gives so many people the opportunity to act as their own publishers and to share their ideas widely with little oversight. This can create confusion in particular in a region without strong traditions of press freedom. Kazakstan's bloggers (and other internet users) would be well-advised to pay attention to concerns like those Leila raises. I recommend her post. (And note that her comments include some discussion of how realistic might be her estimate of the number of bloggers in the country.)