4. Censorship and New Media Alternatives

4. Censorship and New MediaAlternatives

In the months since the 2020 election, the media has become a prime battleground

between the autocratic tendencies of the Lukashenko regime and the desire for freedom and

democracy among the Belarusian people. While Lukashenko had long restricted media freedom

in Belarus and detained journalists, his crackdown on independent media accelerated in the face

of the intense post-election protests.46 Dozens of journalists covering the peaceful demonstrations

were detained and brutalized at the notorious Akrestsina detention center and then released

without charges on the condition that they delete their protest coverage.47 Even ordinary people

were arrested over comments on social media: Mikhail Bohdan and Valyantsina Pisaruk were

both given two-year parole-like sentences for insulting the police online.48 In all, nearly 500

journalists, media employees, bloggers and online activists were arrested.49

In an attempt to further censor independent media, Lukashenko passed the Law of Mass

Media in May of 2021, which “prohibits the media from reporting on unauthorized mass

gatherings and publishing opinion polls without having their results approved by the Belarus

government.”50 In effect, the law has enabled the government to shut down media organizations

without a court order. TUT.by, one of Belarus’s most significant independent media outlets, was

accused of violating the law and subsequently denied journalism accreditations, resulting in its

46 Carmela Caruso,

“In Belarus, Media Jailing Used as Tool of Censorship, ” VOA News, last modified November 17, 2021, https://www.voanews.com/a/in-belarus-media-jailings-used-as-tool-of-censorship-/6315919.html. 47 Said, “Four press freedom trends. ” 48 “Belarus Launches New Criminal CaseAgainst Independent Tut.by Journalists, ” Radio Free Europe, October 7, 2021, https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-crackdown-independent-media/31497936.html. 49 “Belarus: Freedom on the Net 2021 Country Report, ” Freedom House,Accessed January 3, 2022, https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-net/2021. 50 Shriansh Jaiswal, “Belarus’New Media Law:ANightmare for Journalistic Freedom, ” The Promise Students’ Human Rights Blog, UCLASchool of Law,August 17, 2021, https://www.promisehumanrights.blog/blog/2021/8/belarus-new-media-law-a-nightmare-for-journalistic-freedom.

shutdown.51 The law was also used to limit international coverage of the protests by stripping

journalists from Radio Free Europe and other foreign outlets of accreditation. 52 The state-owned

internet service, Beltelecom, has also proved a useful tool for government censorship by

restricting online access to TUT.by and other independent news outlets.53 Reports of repeated

internet disruptions and the blocking of VPNs—potential censorship circumvention

mechanisms—demonstrate the extreme measures Lukashenko is taking.54

Fortunately, Lukashenko’s attempts at media censorship have been met with resistance.

Even journalists of a usually sympathetic outlet, the state-run broadcast channel Belarus One,

walked out, refusing to do their jobs if they were subjected to overt censorship.55 The Belarusian

opposition is also implementing new communication strategies to ensure continued resistance in

the face of Lukashenko’s crackdown on newer, less traditional forms of media. They have begun

to rely especially on radio and decentralized social media platforms. Radio Free Europe, which

was shut down online, resumed its broadcast on radio waves despite censorship attempts.56

Telegram, a messaging app run through “encrypted social media channels that can bypass

restrictions,”57 has become a popular medium to share news and information and coordinate

activities.58 Nexta, a news channel hosted on Telegram, has become a prominent source for

51 “Belarus: Blocking leading online media outlet is a brazen attack on freedom of expression, ”Amnesty International, May 18, 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/05/belarus-blocking-leading-online-media-outlet-is-a-brazen-attack-on -freedom-of-expression/. 52 Shaun Walker, “Lukashenko plans ‘people’s assembly ’but Belarus reform unlikely, ” The Guardian, February 10, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/10/lukashenko-plans-peoples-assembly-but-belarus-reform-unlikely. 53 Said, “Four press freedom trends. ” 54 “Belarus: Internet Disruptions, Online Censorship, ” Human Rights Watch,August 28, 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/28/belarus-internet-disruptions-online-censorship#. 55 Walker, “Belarus media strike. ”

56 Said,

“Four press freedom trends. ” 57 Katie M. Davies, “Belarus protests: can decentralized media like Nexta bring down Europe’s ailing autocrats?” The Calvert Journal, August 13, 2020, https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/12048/belarus-protests-nexta-decentralised-media-tech-europe. 58 Said, “Four press freedom trends. ”

protest coverage. While Nexta’s decentralized strategy has made it successful in evading

censorship, it also poses problems for its reliability. 59 Nexta’s contributors are anonymous,

avoiding both government and public scrutiny.

Opposition activists have used internet platforms in more creative ways, not only

disseminating information but also directly targeting the regime and its supporters. Some

Belarusian activists have developed the Krama app to encourage boycotts against products linked

to Lukashenko or the government.60 Additionally, a “cyber partisan” group that consists of

members mostly outside of the country has gathered and released sensitive information to the

public about law enforcement officers who contributed to dismantling the 2020 protests.61

Further, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has been able to use Twitter to remain a powerful leader of the

Belarusian dissident movement while in exile, styling herself in her Twitter bio as the “leader of

democratic Belarus.”62

Lukashenko’s fear of these platforms resulted in one of his most notorious actions against

media opposition—the forced landing of Ryanair Flight 4978, orchestrated to detain the

co-founder of Nexta, Raman Pratasevicht.63 Though Lukashenko succeeded in arresting this

major opposition activist, the extreme action resulted in widespread international condemnation

and an increased global awareness of his brutal authoritarian tactics. Lukashenko’s extreme

measures against the media evince his desperation to keep his citizens misinformed and

powerless and to keep the international community in the dark. Luckily, the creativity and

59 Davies,

“Belarus protests. ” 60 Ivan Nechepurenko and Valerie Hopkins,

“‘Our Goal Is to Keep the Regime on Its Toes:’Inside Belarus’s Underground Opposition, ” The New York Times,August 20, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/world/europe/belarus-opposition-protests.html. 61 Nechepurenko and Hopkins, “‘Our Goal Is to Keep the Regime on Its Toes. ’” 62 “Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) / Twitter, ” Twitter, accessed January 23, 2022, https://twitter.com/Tsihanouskaya. 63 “Belarus diverts Ryanair plane to arrest activist journalist, ” Deutsche Welle, May 23, 2021, https://p.dw.com/p/3tpYe.