{
  "id": 181,
  "slug": "2026-kazakhstan-copyright-claims-against-press",
  "title": "Kazakhstan: fabricated copyright complaints used against journalists",
  "occurred_on": "2026-08-20",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "KZ",
  "country": "KZ",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press",
  "leader_slug": "kassym-jomart-tokayev",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
  "outcome": "ongoing",
  "outcome_on": "2026-08-20",
  "outcome_note": "The pattern was reported as continuing at the time of the source reviewed, with no described resolution.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "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.{c:554}{c:682}{c:683}",
  "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.{c:554}{c:682}{c:683}\n\nOngoing as of the source reviewed.{c:554}{c:682}{c:683}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.{c:554}{c:682}{c:683}",
  "effect_on_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.{c:554}",
  "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not identify who commissioned the false complaints against specific journalists.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:20:29Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 9,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:20:23Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:23:09Z",
  "stage": "pressure",
  "ladder_note": "An investigation found paid services filing fabricated copyright complaints to remove Kazakh journalists' accounts, bypassing courts entirely; United States lawsuits against the press in the record proceed openly through the court system.",
  "country_name": "Kazakhstan",
  "tactics": [
    "lawsuits_against_press"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "kassym-jomart-tokayev",
    "name": "Kassym-Jomart Tokayev",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/kassym-jomart-tokayev"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-kazakhstan-copyright-claims-against-press",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:20:29Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not identify who commissioned the false complaints against specific journalists."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "kassym-jomart-tokayev",
      "name": "Kassym-Jomart Tokayev",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/kassym-jomart-tokayev"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "orda",
      "name": "Orda",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/orda"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "azamat-omarov",
      "name": "Azamat Omarov",
      "outlet": null,
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/azamat-omarov"
    },
    {
      "slug": "diana-okremova",
      "name": "Diana Okremova",
      "outlet": null,
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/diana-okremova"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 554,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 181,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Underground market charges up to $5,000 per false complaint",
      "statement": "Scale of the business built around filing false complaints.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 396,
      "evidence_quote": "An underground market and agencies charging up to US$5,000 to file false complaints against the press",
      "evidence_date": "2026-08-20",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:20:27Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 396,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2026/08/from-prosecutions-to-bans-and-spurious-copyright-claims-how-kazakhstans-journalists-are-being-silenced/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2026/08/from-prosecutions-to-bans-and-spurious-copyright-claims-how-kazakhstans-journalists-are-being-silenced/",
        "title": "From prosecutions to bans and spurious copyright claims: how Kazakhstan's journalists are being restricted",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2026-08-20",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/554"
    },
    {
      "id": 682,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 181,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Omarov's accounts removed on apparently spurious complaints",
      "statement": "Description of the platform action against a specific journalist.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 396,
      "evidence_quote": "YouTube and Instagram were removing his videos and blocking his accounts on the basis of apparently spurious copyright complaints.",
      "evidence_date": "2026-08-20",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:59Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 396,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2026/08/from-prosecutions-to-bans-and-spurious-copyright-claims-how-kazakhstans-journalists-are-being-silenced/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2026/08/from-prosecutions-to-bans-and-spurious-copyright-claims-how-kazakhstans-journalists-are-being-silenced/",
        "title": "From prosecutions to bans and spurious copyright claims: how Kazakhstan's journalists are being restricted",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2026-08-20",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/682"
    },
    {
      "id": 683,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 181,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Complaints impersonated global brands",
      "statement": "How the false complaints were made to appear legitimate.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 396,
      "evidence_quote": "Perpetrators used email addresses and posed as representatives of global brands, including L'Oréal and Giorgio Armani, when launching complaints.",
      "evidence_date": "2026-08-20",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:36:00Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 396,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2026/08/from-prosecutions-to-bans-and-spurious-copyright-claims-how-kazakhstans-journalists-are-being-silenced/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2026/08/from-prosecutions-to-bans-and-spurious-copyright-claims-how-kazakhstans-journalists-are-being-silenced/",
        "title": "From prosecutions to bans and spurious copyright claims: how Kazakhstan's journalists are being restricted",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2026-08-20",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/683"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 396,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2026/08/from-prosecutions-to-bans-and-spurious-copyright-claims-how-kazakhstans-journalists-are-being-silenced/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2026/08/from-prosecutions-to-bans-and-spurious-copyright-claims-how-kazakhstans-journalists-are-being-silenced/",
      "title": "From prosecutions to bans and spurious copyright claims: how Kazakhstan's journalists are being restricted",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2026-08-20",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 480,
      "url": "https://www.occrp.org/en/news/kazakhstans-election-brings-a-new-parliament-and-more-pressure-on-journalists",
      "final_url": "https://www.occrp.org/en/news/kazakhstans-election-brings-a-new-parliament-and-more-pressure-on-journalists",
      "title": "Kazakhstan's Election Brings a New Parliament (and more pressure on journalists)",
      "publisher": "OCCRP",
      "published_on": "2026-08",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-kazakhstan-copyright-claims-against-press/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Kazakhstan: fabricated copyright complaints used against journalists. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-kazakhstan-copyright-claims-against-press. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}