Kazakhstan Eyes Social Media Ban for Uder-16s

Kazakhstan is considering a new bill that would ban children under 16 from creating accounts on online platforms.

According to the Culture and Information Ministry, a package of amendments to the existing legislation was recently subject to public discussion, The Caspian Post reports, citing Qazinform.

The ministry received many requests from parents, teachers, and public organizations. Based on their arguments, we studied international trends, obtained input from experts. As a result, a decision was made to introduce a rule prohibiting children under 16 from creating accounts on online platforms, reads the response.

The ban will not apply to messaging apps, added the ministry. “The social media ban seeks to provide minors with additional security guarantees and protect them from negative content,” it explained.

The ministry said Kazakhstan is carefully considering the steps in this direction, noting: “A number of countries have imposed the same restrictions.”

Government agencies will discuss ways to implement the ban if the public supports the proposal, said the ministry.

“One of the proposed ways is to require online platforms to implement age verification,” it added.