Affiliated media: Instagram account shishkin_like, Online media

Incident date: April 21, 2023

Attack type:

• Shutting down a media outlet / blocking an Internet site/ seizure of an entire print run

Who attacked: Non-authorities

Source: Adil Soz

Location: Kazakhstan, Almaty, Almaty

Additional information:

The independent media account shishkin_like in Instagram was blocked due to complaints received by the administrators of the social network allegedly from Halyk Bank, ВІ group, and Qazaqstan Radio and Television Corporation. The complaints concerned the use of company logos, which the editorial staff used in collages and schemes for journalistic investigations. Colleagues of the editor-in-chief Dmitry Shishkin reported that these companies may not even be aware of the complaints — their names may be signed by attackers, the administration of Instagram does not double-check the involvement of the author of the complaint with the company. The companies later confirmed that they had not filed complaints with the social network. The correspondence of the editor-in-chief with the administration of Instagram did not give any results. As a result, in order not to violate the interests of its readers, the editorial staff created a new Instagram account — @shishkin._like.