Revised Media Law Proposal Submitted to Kyrgyzstan Parliament
A new version of the media bill has been presented to the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan for review. This revised sixth version of the law on the media was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, media representatives, and legal experts. The proposed document includes provisions to prohibit censorship and safeguard the sources of information.
According to the bill, a media outlet is considered registered from the date of the Ministry of Justice’s registration decision, and a media register will be maintained by the ministry. The editorial board, editor, and journalist are not held accountable for disseminating inaccurate information that harms individuals’ reputation, business integrity, or violates citizens’ rights and interests.
The draft law also mandates that state bodies, local government entities, public associations, businesses, and organizations must respond to journalistic inquiries within three working days, except for defense and national security agencies. The activities of a media outlet can only be terminated or suspended by court order or the decision of the founder.
The bill specifies grounds for terminating a media outlet’s activities by the court, including repeated violations within 12 months that were previously warned by the authorized information state body. Despite requests from the working group to eliminate this provision, the Ministry of Culture retained it in the document. Dina Maslova, the founder of Kaktus.Media, expressed concerns about potential unwarranted claims against media outlets in the future due to this provision.
The development of this compromise version of the media bill reflects ongoing efforts to balance media freedom with accountability in Kyrgyzstan. As the legislative process continues, stakeholders will closely monitor the impact of these proposed regulations on the media landscape in the country.
