Can Kazakhstanis delete fake information about them from the internet? Is Kazakhstan going to introduce the right to oblivion at all? And if it does, won’t it damage the freedom of speech? CABAR.asia talked about it to Ruslan Daiyrbekov, director of law firm DRCQ, founder of Eurasian Digital Foundation, who develops projects on protection of digital human rights and on studying internet in the Eurasian space.
– Ruslan, could you tell us what the right to oblivion is?
– This is a concept related to protection of individual rights and personal data. So, the right to oblivion allows persons to ask for deletion, blocking or discontinuance of use of their personal data, if they are no longer relevant, and also if their storage or use can have negative consequences for the person.
– Who needs to delete personal information and why?
– The point is that not all information that gets on the internet is reliable. Moreover, it is false sometimes. The absence of the right to oblivion limits the rights of personal data owners to have control over information about them: the right to remove some false information, etc. This main drawback is that we cannot exercise our additional rights, unfortunately.
– In 2020 and 2021 , representatives of the ministry of digital development spoke about development of legislative mechanisms and even the service, which can remove information about oneself upon request. Was it implemented?
– Sadly, the legislation of Kazakhstan does not regulate the right to oblivion at all. However, it does not mean that Kazakhstanis cannot try to delete false information about them from the internet. The country has the law “On personal data”, which regulates personal data processing, including collection, storage, use and distribution of data. According to the law, people have the right to access their personal data, and to change and remove them if they are incorrect or outdated.
You can contact representatives of those platforms, messengers and social media directly, where this information is stored or distributed. But we should understand that every service has its own rules. My advice is to study the user agreement of the social media, service or messenger carefully to understand how they work. It should have the algorithm of actions, when the user can ask to delete information and thus exercise their right to oblivion.
– Does the right to oblivion work in other states?
– Some states, including European Union members, have introduced laws and norms regulating the right to oblivion on the internet. These laws allow individuals to resort to internet service providers, owners of search engines and other entities and ask to delete incorrect or outdated, in their opinion, information that refers to them personally.
– Can Kazakhstan borrow the practice of the European Union when introducing the right to oblivion?
– The right to oblivion is related to other rights, legislative rules and institutional settings. Say, some jurisdictions, including particular member states of the European Union, have restrictions on application of the right to oblivion regarding public figures. The point is that private life of such people is of public interest. Their actions and acts can be deemed news events and be the subject of close attention of the society. If public figures and officials have the right to oblivion, it would restrict the right of expression, access to socially important information. And the investigative journalism would come to an end. Moreover, our laws do not have the definition of public interest.
– It turns out that if the right to oblivion is introduced without regard to such critical component as public interest, it can lead to adverse consequences?
– That’s right. One of the main reasons for restricted right to oblivion is protection of the freedom of speech and freedom of information. And it is critical to ensure public access to information about activities of public figures and celebrities in order to maintain transparency and freedom of press.
– Does it mean that public figures cannot exercise the right to oblivion?
– No, it doesn’t. The right to oblivion can apply to some aspects of private life of public figures. For example, if information is false, fake or outdated. Despite this fact, the right to oblivion can be legitimised in Kazakhstan, but it should be well thought out. Unlike what happened in Russia, for example, where restrictions relating to public interest, public persons were not regulated.
– What if officials and public figures would use the above-said method and would begin to delete their personal information from social media and messengers?
– There is the concept of platform law. It means internal norms and rules of the social media or messengers that regulate relations with users. Platforms can refuse to let you exercise this right, if you are, say, an official or a public figure, and information that you want to delete is of public interest.
Main photo: Freepik
This publication was funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of IWPR and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.