A court ordered a resident of Karaganda to pay compensation to a woman whose photo he posted on Instagram without permission. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing the press service of the Karaganda Regional Court.

The dispute was considered by the district court No. 2 of the Kazybekbi district of Karaganda. The plaintiff demanded protection of her right to her own image, a ban on further use of the photo, and compensation for moral damages.

The reason for going to court was a publication that the woman discovered on Instagram on February 20, 2026. On the defendant's page, there was her photo with her last name and the caption "500,000 tenge." The woman did not give permission for posting the photo.

Initially, the woman tried to resolve the conflict without court. She demanded the photo be deleted and 250,000 tenge in compensation for moral damages.

"Since the photo was posted without the plaintiff's consent, she sent the defendant a pre-trial claim demanding the removal of the publication and compensation for moral damages in the amount of 250,000 tenge. Subsequently, K. filed the above lawsuit," the court reported.

The account owner refused to acknowledge the claims. However, on March 30, more than a month after the publication appeared, he did delete the photo.

The court noted that the subsequent deletion of the photo does not negate the fact of the violation. During all this time, the image was publicly available and accessible to other social media users.

According to Article 145 of the Civil Code of Kazakhstan, publishing a person's image without their consent is prohibited. Exceptions are provided for certain cases — for example, when the photo was taken at a public event or is related to a person's official or public activities.

The defendant could not confirm that he had legal grounds for posting the photo.

As a result, the court partially satisfied the woman's claims. The Instagram account owner was banned from further using her images without consent. He was also ordered to pay 100,000 tenge in compensation for moral damages and court costs.

The defendant tried to appeal the decision, but the appellate panel of the Karaganda Regional Court found no grounds for its reversal.