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Freedom on the Net 2025

Kazakhstan

Not Free
37
100
A Obstacles to Access 14 25
B Limits on Content 12 35
C Violations of User Rights 11 40
Last Year's Score & Status
34 100 Not Free
Scores are based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free). See the methodology and report acknowledgements.
Kazakhstan_hero

header1 Key Developments, June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025

Internet freedom in Kazakhstan improved slightly during the coverage period due to fewer reports of network disruptions during protests, a more diversified mobile telecommunications market, and fewer cyberattacks against media outlets. However, the internet freedom environment remains repressive, as the government routinely blocks websites, prosecutes people for critical social media content, and enacts legislation that threatens freedom of expression online.

  • In January 2025, state-owned Kazakhtelecom sold the mobile operator Mobile Telecom Service LLP to Power International Holding, a Qatari company, creating more competition in the mobile telecommunications market (A4).1
  • An October 2024 report from the Open Observatory for Network Interference (OONI), Internet Freedom Kazakhstan (IFKZ), and the Eurasian Digital Foundation found that at least 17 media sites and 73 circumvention tools were blocked in Kazakhstan, among other websites (B1).2
  • In August 2024, the new Law on Mass Media came into effect. It defines online publishers as mass media that must register with the government, provides the government with power to rescind accreditation from foreign journalists who publish broadly defined “propaganda or extremism,” and allows authorities to monitor the media to ensure they do not contradict “national, cultural, and family values.”3
  • In April 2025, an Almaty court sentenced Temirlan Yensebek, a journalist who runs the popular satirical outlet Qaznews24, to five years of restricted freedom, which prevents him from working as a journalist and giving interviews. He had faced charges in connection with a Qaznews24 post of a two-decade-old rap song that contained lyrics denigrating Russians (C3).4
  • In June 2024, Kazakh dissident Aydos Sadykov, cofounder of the investigative YouTube channel BASE, was shot outside his home in Ukraine and died from the injuries two weeks later. Ukrainian law enforcement quickly identified two Kazakh citizens as suspects in the murder, but the Kazakh government has refused to comply with an extradition request for of one of them (the other reportedly remained at large). Sadykov and his wife Natalia Sadykova, a cofounder of BASE, had lived in exile in Ukraine since 2014, when Sadykova was charged with criminal defamation by Kazakh authorities. Prior to the murder, they faced harassment from a Telegram channel, which Irina Petrushova, head of the Kazakh online outlet Respublika, claimed was run by the Kazakh security services. Sadykova faced additional online harassment and phishing attacks following her husband’s murder (C7 and C8).5

header2 Political Overview

President Nursultan Nazarbayev ruled Kazakhstan from 1990 until his resignation in 2019. His hand-picked successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, began a program of ostensible reform after peaceful nationwide protests turned violent in January 2022. Parliamentary and presidential elections are neither free nor fair, however, and authorities have consistently marginalized or imprisoned genuine opposition figures. The dominant media outlets are either in state hands or owned by government-friendly businessmen. Freedoms of speech and assembly remain restricted and subject to punishment, and corruption is endemic.

This report has been abridged for Freedom on the Net 2025 due to ongoing budget constraints. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.

For additional background information, see last year’s full report.

A Obstacles to Access

A1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do infrastructural limitations restrict access to the internet or the speed and quality of internet connections? 5.005 6.006
A2 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Is access to the internet prohibitively expensive or beyond the reach of certain segments of the population for geographical, social, or other reasons? 2.002 3.003
A3 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does the government exercise technical or legal control over internet infrastructure for the purposes of restricting connectivity? 4.004 6.006

Score Change: The score improved from 3 to 4 because there were fewer reported disruptions of the internet during local rallies.

A4 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Are there legal, regulatory, or economic obstacles that restrict the diversity of service providers? 3.003 6.006

Score Change: The score improved from 2 to 3 because of increased diversification of the mobile telecommunications market.1

A5 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do national regulatory bodies that oversee service providers and digital technology fail to operate in a free, fair, and independent manner? 0.000 4.004

B Limits on Content

B1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does the state block or filter, or compel service providers to block or filter, internet content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? 2.002 6.006
B2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do state or nonstate actors employ legal, administrative, or other means to force publishers, content hosts, or digital platforms to delete content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? 1.001 4.004
B3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do restrictions on the internet and digital content lack transparency, proportionality to the stated aims, or an independent appeals process? 1.001 4.004
B4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do online journalists, commentators, and ordinary users practice self-censorship? 1.001 4.004
B5 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Are online sources of information controlled or manipulated by the government or other powerful actors to advance a particular political interest? 1.001 4.004
B6 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Are there economic or regulatory constraints that negatively affect users’ ability to publish content online? 1.001 3.003
B7 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Does the online information landscape lack diversity and reliability? 2.002 4.004
B8 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do conditions impede users’ ability to mobilize, form communities, and campaign, particularly on political and social issues? 3.003 6.006

C Violations of User Rights

C1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do the constitution or other laws fail to protect rights such as freedom of expression, access to information, and press freedom, including on the internet, and are they enforced by a judiciary that lacks independence? 1.001 6.006
C2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Are there laws that assign criminal penalties or civil liability for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? 0.000 4.004
C3 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Are individuals penalized for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? 2.002 6.006
C4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Does the government place restrictions on anonymous communication or encryption? 1.001 4.004
C5 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does state surveillance of internet activities infringe on users’ right to privacy? 2.002 6.006
C6 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does monitoring and collection of user data by service providers and other technology companies infringe on users’ right to privacy? 2.002 6.006
C7 1.00-5.00 pts0-5 pts
Are individuals subject to extralegal intimidation or physical violence by state authorities or any other actor in relation to their online activities? 2.002 5.005
C8 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Are websites, governmental and private entities, service providers, or individual users subject to widespread hacking and other forms of cyberattack? 1.001 3.003

Score Change: The score improved from 0 to 1 because there were fewer reported cyberattacks targeting journalists, media outlets, and civil society.

On Kazakhstan

See all data, scores & information on this country or territory.

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Country Facts

  • Population

    19,620,000

  • Global Freedom Score

    23 100 not free

  • Internet Freedom Score

    37 100 not free

  • Freedom in the World Status

    Not Free

  • Networks Restricted

    No

  • Websites Blocked

    Yes

  • Pro-government Commentators

    Yes

  • Users Arrested

    Yes