ST. PETERSBURG, August 3. /TASS/. A Kazakh presidential administration official has called for setting up a joint information verification center with Russia and producing joint media content.

"A next task for joint media is ensuring reliability and efficiency. One of the instruments of addressing increasing information risks is a fact-checking mechanism. A joint information verification center may serve as such an instrument. The development of joint fact-checking protocols will help the two countries’ media outlets verify dubious data instantly. If false information about our relations surfaces on the internet, we must be able to provide a prompt, accurate, and most importantly, truthful response," Kanat Kulshmanov, head of the communications department at the Kazakh presidential administration, said at a plenary meeting of the 3rd Russian-Kazakh Media Forum.

He recalled that last year Kazakhstan inaugurated a center for combating disinformation, which adjusted international experience against the country’s realities and has already accumulated its own expertise. "I believe that joint efforts to improve the mechanism for debunking fake news will enable us to prevent any distortion of public opinion regarding Kazakhstani-Russian relations," he stressed.

According to Kulshmanov, relations between Kazakhstan and Russia should reach a high level in the media sphere. Thus, he called for providing citizens with direct and prompt information about the results of the partnership between the two countries, using specific examples and figures and noted that the implementation of targeted projects could play a significant role for this. In his words, it is time Russia and Kazakhstan to move beyond mere information exchanges to the joint production of media content. For these ends, it would be expedients to strengthen partnership between media outlets to ensure swift dissemination of major news and exchange of exclusive stories.

The first Russian-Kazakh Media Forum was held at TASS’ Moscow headquarters in November 2024. The second event was held in Almaty last year.