BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday signed into law legislation outlawing online adult content in the country.
Kyrgyz news site 24.kg and other sources are reporting that Japarov signed the measure, titled “On Prohibition of Access to Sites Containing Pornographic Content Elements in the Internet Space of the Kyrgyz Republic,” which requires website operators to remove pornographic content within 24 hours of receiving a government request to do so, or face “suspension.”
Under the new law, the country’s Cabinet of Ministers will now also create a register of prohibited websites containing pornographic elements, access to which will be blocked throughout Kyrgyzstan.
As XBIZ reported, the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan passed the legislation in June.
It was already illegal to import, produce, distribute, or advertise pornographic materials or images in Kyrgyzstan. However, those laws previously did not apply to online content.
A background statement on the legislation declares, “Given the public accessibility of sites containing pornographic content on the internet, the emergence of an industry based on the distribution of pornography is destroying the spiritual, moral, and ethical form of people’s consciousness.”