Position Paper 3: Authoritarian Media

A Belarus-Sized Problem.

Belarus is a country in eastern-Europe that acts as the dividing line between Europe and Asia. Russia stands to the east with Poland to the west and Ukraine to the south. From the perspective of the average American, Belarus is a relatively forgettable country in an active European political climate but that may be because we do not hear very much news out of the country. This is because Belarus is classified as a dictatorship, the sole dictatorship in Europe.

The President of Belarus is Alexander Lukashenko who was first elected President in 1994. Lukashenko has since served five terms as President and was most recently inaugurated for his sixth term in August. The most recent election did not come without rough waters as Lukashenko reportedly received over 80% of the vote, which was quickly recognized by the international community as illegitimate. A coordination council was quickly formed to prevent Lukashenko from becoming President but he was officially inaugurated on August 23rd.

Protests in Belarus were quickly met with violent persecution by the authorities including torture, sexual abuse, and even some reports of rape. Following Lukashenko's inauguration, the EU quickly issued a statement rejecting the legitimacy of Lukashenko's presidency and published a list of 40 Belarusian officials, all of whom are accused of tampering with the election and vote rigging and suppression. 

"Recalling the Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union of 11 September, the EU once again reiterates that the 9 August Belarus Presidential elections were neither free nor fair. The European Union does not recognize their falsified results. On this basis, the so-called ‘inauguration’ of 23 September 2020 and the new mandate claimed by Aleksandr Lukashenko lack any democratic legitimacy. This ‘inauguration’ directly contradicts the will of large parts of the Belarusian population, as expressed in numerous, unprecedented and peaceful protests since the elections, and serves to only further deepen the political crisis in Belarus. The European Union’s position is clear: Belarusian citizens deserve the right to be represented by those they freely choose through new inclusive, transparent and credible elections."

In light of the current political climate of Belarus, how does the media act?

Media censorship is prohibited by Belarus' constitution, but censorship is ironically enforced by numerous laws and government facilities. Freedom of the press is heavily restricted with state-owned media being harshly regulated by the Lukashenko regime and independent news outlets being forced to self-censor for protection. The standing government of Belarus goes as far to threaten foreign media through systemic political intimidation.

In Belarus, statements that insult the President can be punished by up-to five years in prison while these same statements, while made abroad, are punishable by up-to two years in prison. The laws regarding media regulation are enforced by the Ministry of Information (sound familiar?), which was established in 2001 during Lukashenko's seventh year as President.

The Belarusian government established a Public Coordination Council in Sphere of the Mass Information in 2009 which increased the interaction between the state and news outlets. Along with this, regulations which required news outlets to register with the state or be blocked came into action. Now, every news outlet must be registered with the government, which gives the regime access to all news traveling through that news outlet and control over what is published or not published. Independent news sources have turned to registering website without a Belarus domain to publish 'un-registered' news.

Since 2014, the Belarusian government has been able to block websites that contain 'extremist' material, in which liability also includes user comments on news articles. Since protests began in 2020, numerous Belarus-based print newspapers have seen their copies failed to be produced. The Belarusian regime controls the printing houses in which the papers are printed and the news outlets claim that the delay in printing was not caused by technical error, but by interference due to the content of the news (which was reporting on the mistreatment of protestors).

The government of Belarus also holds control of television media. Only the state-owned media is allowed to broadcast nationwide with other programs being tightly restricted. Some Russian-owned media is allowed to be broadcasted while under tight observation from the Belarusian government. The last independently owned TV channel in Belarus, EuroNews, ceased broadcast for unknown reasons in 2012.

When it comes to treatment of journalists, Belarus performs about as well as you would expect. In the past year alone, over 60 journalists have been detained for reporting on the mass protests and many have reported harsh mistreatment.

Belarus has been labelled an 'internet enemy' by Reporters Without Borders for the regime's stance on internet censorship. The country takes similar action to that of the print-media censorship. Some harsh laws include: being required to register with the Ministry of Information, whether foreign or domestic, or be blocked, any website selling goods must operate domestically or use a .by domain, and all ISPs or hotspot operators must register every user on the service or be fined.

In relation to the beginning of this paper, the Lukashenko regime has complete control of the news in Belarus, which is why we may not hear negative press coming from the country. However, thanks to international reporting, we can see what is behind the curtain.