Authorities in Kazakhstan are channeling Don Quixote. But whereas Cervantes’ epic hero was inclined to tilt at windmills, Kazakh officials are trying to address a serious yet intractable problem – stemming the swirl of misinformation on social media.
During the second half of April, Kazakhstan experienced several episodes in which false rumors circulating on social media caused varying degrees of public panic. In one of the more serious cases, a rumor of a school-shooting plot in Astana circulated on Telegram on April 19 sparked widespread concern among parents. Police quickly debunked the information and announced an investigation into the incident.
Those identified as purveyors of misinformation causing public unrest are being detained and fined. In one case, a 27-year-old man in the northern city of Pavlodar was fined for spreading a false assertion that aid workers were stealing humanitarian assistance meant for those displaced by flooding in the region.
A similarepisode occurred in Petropavlovsk, where a 47-year-old woman witnessed volunteers loading food into a car at an administrative building, assuming the contents were being misappropriated. She filmed the action with her phone and posted it on social media, portraying it as evidence of theft. The video went viral on TikTok and other social media channels before being debunked. Police later determined that the film showed legitimate activities. The female social media poster received an administrative fine.
Thus far, those found guilty of circulating demonstrably false content on social media have faced only administrative penalties. But Kazakhstan’s criminal code does provide for punishment of such offenses, including large fines and imprisonment for up to seven years.
