Legal protection of public order amid digital transformation: a reflection on Kazakhstan

Abstract

Digital transformation is altering the forms of communication, mobilization, and collective coordination, posing new challenges for the legal protection of public order and fundamental rights. This article reflects on the main problems within the Kazakh legal framework for distinguishing between peaceful assembly, administrative offenses, unlawful collective conduct, and mass disturbances in digital communication environments. The article adopts a legal, documentary, and comparative approach. It examines normative and doctrinal sources in Kazakhstan and uses the Russian and European frameworks as contextual references, without aiming for an exhaustive comparison or empirical measurement. The analysis identifies difficulties related to the precision of Article 272 of the Criminal Code, the individualization of responsibility, the distinction between procedural irregularities and criminally relevant violence, and the assessment of digital communications. The reflection links digital transformation with legal certainty, proportionality, and the protection of peaceful assembly. Kazakhstan requires clearer normative criteria, consistent enforcement practices, proportionate preventive mechanisms, and effective judicial review of restrictive measures.