Kyrgyzstan's National Security service is planning to begin systematic monitoring of online news sites this fall for content that it construes as hate speech, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting writes. The initiative will focus on internet sites with the "kg" domain name, and identify content relating to ethnicity, religion and regional origin that could engender hatred.
Civil society groups have protested the plan, arguing that they currently perform the function themselves, and that the security services' lack of transparency and reputation for curbing criticism of the government could result in censorship.
The program follows recommendations from a parliamentary committee that investigated inter-ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in 2010 that consumed the country's southern districts around Jalabad and Osh.
Civil society groups have protested the plan, arguing that they currently perform the function themselves, and that the security services' lack of transparency and reputation for curbing criticism of the government could result in censorship.
The program follows recommendations from a parliamentary committee that investigated inter-ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in 2010 that consumed the country's southern districts around Jalabad and Osh.