Kyrgyzstan’s parliament has ignored more than two years of work by a special commission and adopted a new media law that preserves restrictions on the registration of media outlets. The version parliament passed in its second and third readings on June 25 requires the mandatory registration of all media outlets, including online publications.

The Cabinet of Ministers is given exclusive powers to determine the procedure for registration, re-registration, and the termination of media activities.

Back to Square One?

There were strong objections from media freedom and rights groups to the mandatory registration of media outlets, including online sites, when the draft bill was introduced nearly three years ago.

Since Sadyr Japarov was elected president in January 2021, pressure on independent media outlets has been building.

The presidential administration said Kyrgyzstan’s current media law, which dates back to 1992, was outdated, and submitted a draft of a new media law in September 2022. International and domestic criticism was so strong that the bill was withdrawn, and eventually, a commission with representatives of the media community, including independent media outlets, the government, civil society, and legal experts, was formed.

The draft just approved by parliament was the sixth version of the bill, and, until June 16, it stated that registration for media outlets would be voluntary. On June 16, however, when the Kyrgyz parliament’s Committee on Social Policy was reviewing the bill, four Members of Parliament, Aibek Matkerimov, Ilimbek Kubanychbekov, Ernis Aidaraliev, and Sovetbek Rustambek uulu, introduced amendments.

One of these changes removed voluntary registration for media outlets and replaced that with a clause specifying that a media outlet could only disseminate information after its registration with the Justice Ministry had been confirmed.

The Media Action Platform of Kyrgyzstan, a coalition of media outlets and journalists, complained that the changes introduced by the four deputies negated those that had already been reached after negotiations. The Media Action Platform of Kyrgyzstan also questioned why deputies “who did not participate in the working group, were not present at the parliamentary hearings, and have no professional relationship with the media sphere,” were allowed to propose those amendments.

These objections were apparently ignored when deputies voted on June 25.

The Fate of Foreign-Sponsored Media

Another of the changes from the four deputies stated, “a foreign citizen, stateless person, or foreign legal entity, as well as companies with more than 35% foreign participation, cannot act as founders of media and television organizations.”

That replaces an article in the earlier text that set foreign participation at 50% or more and said only that they “cannot be founders of television organizations.”

There are some 2,740 media outlets registered in Kyrgyzstan, and only a handful receive more than 35% of their funding from foreign sources. One is Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of the U.S. congressionally-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL).

Most of Kyrgyzstan’s presidents have expressed a dislike of Azattyk at one time or another, though the outlet continues to enjoy popularity in Kyrgyzstan according to various surveys.

President Japarov has made his views on Azattyk known several times. In comments to the state media outlet Kabar in January 2024, for example, Japarov claimed Azattyk opposed seeing him come to power. “Who knows,” he said, “maybe they received orders to be against [me] from their foreign owners.” Japarov has also claimed that people in his country “began to hate Azattyk…” and do not believe information that originates “from their chiefs, who finance them from the outside.”

During the Kyrgyz-Tajik border clashes in mid-September 2022, Azattyk posted a report that included comments from Tajik officials and civilians. Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Culture said the report contained false information and ordered Azattyk to remove the report from its website. When Azattyk refused, the Culture Ministry ordered Azattyk’s website to be blocked inside Kyrgyzstan, then days later froze Azattyk Media’s bank account in Kyrgyzstan.

In April 2023, a Kyrgyz court upheld the Culture Ministry’s order to shut down Azattyk, and the outlet’s operation remained suspended until July of that year, when Azattyk removed the “disputed video.”

The draft law that was just passed could mean the end of Azattyk, at least in the form in which it has existed since its establishment in 1953.

Away from the Debate

Among the countries of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan long had the best situation for media, but that has been changing rapidly since Sadyr Japarov was elected president in January 2021. In its annual World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Kyrgyzstan 72^nd in 2022, 122^nd in 2023, 120^th in 2024, and in 2025, the country dropped to the 144^th position.

Bolot Temirov, the host of the YouTube channel Temirov Live, was expelled from Kyrgyzstan in November 2022. Temirov Live reported on government corruption and had just released a program on shady business deals involving family members of Kyrgyzstan’s security chief when its office was raided in January 2022, and Temirov was detained.

In January 2024, police detained eleven former and current journalists from Temirov Live, including Temirov’s wife, Makhabat Tajybek-kyzy. In October, a court sentenced Tajybek-kyzy to six years in prison and another journalist, Azamat Ishenbekov, to five years. Two other journalists were sentenced to three years of probation, whilst the other seven were found not guilty and released.

Also in January 2024, police raided the office of independent news outlet 24.kg, and its office was closed. Authorities charged the outlet with spreading war propaganda in its coverage of events in Ukraine. In March 2024, ownership of 24.kg was transferred to Almasbek Turdumamatov, who is close to the government.

A Kyrgyz court ordered the closure of independent media outlet Kloop in February 2024. Kloop had a reputation for uncovering corruption in Kyrgyzstan, including the corrupt practices of state officials.

One of the last major independent media outlets, Kaktus.media, is facing financial problems after being sued by privately-owned Vecherny Bishkek for running a story that the latter was about to shut down.

Japarov still needs to sign the bill into law, and has previously sent the draft back for review after facing stiff opposition. However, the eleventh-hour amendments introduced by the four deputies are an ominous sign, giving the impression that someone wanted to undo the results of previous compromises just prior to parliament’s vote.