Kazakhstan is set to impose fines on bloggers for promoting betting companies and casinos on social media platforms. This announcement was made by deputy Elnur Beisenbayev during a plenary session of the Mazhilis on April 22.
The new regulation is part of a draft law on gambling, lotteries, and lottery activities. Deputy Elnur Beisenbayev explained that bloggers will face a fine of 60 Monthly Calculation Indexes (MCI) – 221,520 tenge for advertising betting companies and casinos.
"No well-known blogger or public figure will be able to advertise betting companies and casinos through social media. They will still be able to cover sports events on social networks, but there will be restrictions on advertising," he clarified.
In discussions with journalists, Deputy Beisenbayev was asked whether he considered the 60 MCI fine to be small, especially considering that bloggers earn millions for a single social media post promoting such establishments.
"This fine is for a single violation. If there are repeat offenses, the fines will increase. If a blogger is consistently funded by betting companies or promotes them, then other measures will be taken, including revoking the license of the betting company being advertised," added Elnur Beisenbayev.
Earlier, the Mazhilis deputies approved amendments in the first reading to the draft law on gambling, lotteries, and lottery activities, which introduce new age restrictions for participating in gambling activities.
