Incident
Kazakhstan: fabricated copyright complaints used against journalists
KazakhstanRSF rank: not recorded
An investigation found paid services in Kazakhstan filing fabricated copyright complaints, impersonating global brands, to get social media platforms to remove journalists' accounts and posts, alongside criminal prosecutions of the press.123
What happened
CPJ reported on August 20, 2026, that journalists in Kazakhstan faced a pattern of legal and platform-based pressure that included prosecutions, professional bans and what it called spurious copyright claims. One case involved journalist Azamat Omarov, whose YouTube and Instagram accounts were repeatedly removed or blocked based on copyright complaints CPJ said appeared fabricated. An investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, cited in the CPJ report, found an underground market of agencies charging up to $5,000 to file false copyright complaints against journalists, sometimes using email addresses that impersonated global brands including L'Oreal and Giorgio Armani. Diana Okremova of the Legal Media Center said platforms needed to account for Kazakhstan's political context before acting on a single complaint against a journalist or public figure.123
Ongoing as of the source reviewed.123
What reason was given
Stated justification
What changed for reporting
The fabricated complaints removed journalists' social media accounts and posts without any court proceeding, using platform copyright rules as a substitute for a lawsuit.1
Timeline
2026
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Kassym-Jomart Tokayev | other | President of Kazakhstan |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Orda | outlet | affected |
| Azamat Omarov | journalist | affected |
| Diana Okremova | journalist | affected |
Sources
- From prosecutions to bans and spurious copyright claims: how Kazakhstan's journalists are being restricted
- Kazakhstan's Election Brings a New Parliament (and more pressure on journalists)
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- Scale of the business built around filing false complaints.
An underground market and agencies charging up to US$5,000 to file false complaints against the press
From prosecutions to bans and spurious copyright claims: how Kazakhstan's journalists are being restricted, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2026-08-20.Claim 554, checked 2026-09-22. - Description of the platform action against a specific journalist.
YouTube and Instagram were removing his videos and blocking his accounts on the basis of apparently spurious copyright complaints.
From prosecutions to bans and spurious copyright claims: how Kazakhstan's journalists are being restricted, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2026-08-20.Claim 682, checked 2026-09-22. - How the false complaints were made to appear legitimate.
Perpetrators used email addresses and posed as representatives of global brands, including L'Oréal and Giorgio Armani, when launching complaints.
From prosecutions to bans and spurious copyright claims: how Kazakhstan's journalists are being restricted, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2026-08-20.Claim 683, checked 2026-09-22.