Kyrgyz MP Proposes Extending Gambling Ad Ban To Artists And Public Figures
Kyrgyz MP Burul Amanova has proposed extending legal liability for promoting online gambling and risky financial schemes beyond bloggers to performing artists and other public figures, according to a report published by AKIpress News Agency on October 6, 2026.
The Proposal
Amanova's proposal would broaden the scope of those who can be held legally liable for promoting online gambling and speculative financial products such as binary options, moving beyond the social media bloggers currently targeted by existing restrictions to include artists, performers, and other public figures who endorse such platforms to their audiences.
The move follows growing concern among Kyrgyz lawmakers that gambling and high-risk trading schemes are reaching audiences through endorsements by public figures who wield significant influence among younger followers.
Part Of Wider Legislative Push
The proposal lands amid a broader run of gambling-related legislative activity in Kyrgyzstan's parliament, the Jogorku Kenesh.
Weeks earlier, MP Aigul Akhmedova called for strengthened measures against illegal online casinos, while in April, MP Tabaldy Muratbekov raised concerns during a plenary session about the rapid proliferation of online casinos in the country and called for a national ban.
Deputy Dastan Bekeshev has separately pushed for anti-advertising campaigns targeting bloggers who promote binary options, reviving a 2019 bill that sought to ban binary options outright but which stalled for three years before being blocked.
Why It Matters
If adopted, the expanded liability would give Kyrgyz regulators a broader legal basis to pursue high-profile endorsers of gambling and financial products, not just influencers with large but less mainstream followings.
It reflects a pattern seen in several jurisdictions, where regulators move from targeting platforms themselves to targeting the public figures who promote them once direct enforcement against offshore operators proves difficult.
No timetable for a vote on Amanova's proposal has been confirmed.
Further gambling regulation news will be tracked as the proposal progresses through parliament.
