The list of extremist materials grows daily, and the other day 8 more Telegram channels and chat rooms were added to it.
A Homiel court recently declared Belsat’s website and social networks extremist. Our representative was not invited to the hearing, and we have not yet received any official document, so it isn’t easy to comment. But we decided to learn about the experience of those declared extremist media earlier.
The Telegram channel of the Belarusian Interior Ministry published only a part of the court decision. The “Belsat” website and our social networks in Telegram, Facebook, VK, and Instagram were recognized as extremist. It is unknown whether any other platforms are mentioned in the verdict, such as the Youtube channel of “Belsat.” The application was initiated by the anti-crime agency (GUBOPiK).
The Youtube channel “Rudobelsk Show” authors have been living with the status of “extremists” for a week already. The pattern was the same as with Belsat.
The bloggers themselves saw the recognition of their channel as extremist as yet another news item. The new status was appreciated not only by subscribers but also by officials. The latter became more willing to talk to Volha and Andrei Pavuk. Nevertheless, there was a small outflow of subscribers from the channel.
TUT.BY was also declared an extremist resource with all its social networks. The attempt of portal representatives to appeal the commission’s decision was unsuccessful.
In the opinion of Aleg Ageyeu, lawyer of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, recognizing an entire resource as extremist just for a few controversial publications is a violation of freedom of expression.
You can check the resources recognized as extremist in Belarus in the section “Documents” on the website of the Ministry of Information. By the way, “Belsat” is not yet on the relevant list. Whether or not to unsubscribe from the outlets recognized as extremist is the question everyone decides for him or herself. However, the Belarusian legislation still does not prohibit reading and browsing such resources.
