Interior Ministry ready to 'effectively block access' to Internet in certain cases
At an online conference on July 13, First Deputy Interior Minister Henadz Kazakevich called it silly to block Telegram and spoke about possible actions of the Interior Ministry “in case of threat”.
“From the information point of view, it’s simply stupid to block not only Telegram channels, but also any resources, as the Internet can’t be banned, as well as air. Nevertheless, in the event of a threat to national security, we can effectively block access to these resources for users of the national segment,” Kazakevich said.
According to him, there is no criminal or administrative responsibility for subscribing to various Telegram channels, “but a person should be responsible for his or her statements, which are threatening and offensive”.
“Calls for mass actions that violate public order, of course, are administrative offences. That’s what the police react to,” said the MIA representative.
In general, Kazakevich said, there are attempts to undermine and destabilize the situation in Belarus this year during the elections, in particular, “there is a negative impact done in the information field in order to undermine the authority of the authorities, denigrating specific officials, public figures, law enforcement officers, there are threats and insults to police officers”.
It is done in order to “generate distrust and dislike, which means hatred of citizens to the current state system, especially those of internal affairs and military officers”, as well as to generate distrust and fear among policemen.
