We should beat fake news spreaders at their own game – Lukashenka


The draft of the national information security concept has been presented to president Alyaksandr Lukashenka by State Secretary of the Security Council Stanislau Zas at Tuesday’s session.

“It is purely our own product. We didn’t borrow it from anyone. It is intended for broad domestic and foreign consumption and builds up on the national security concept. It is designed to streamline information security efforts, add concreteness and drive to achieve results. It is also designed to enable conditions for further advancement in this matter,” Stanislau Zas said.

According to the state-run news agency BelTA, the document reflects ‘modern challenges and threats, which are evolving in the information sphere and pose danger to the constitutional foundation and operation of states such as manipulation of the collective consciousness, discrediting of ideals and values, erosion of national sovereignty, instability of information infrastructure’.

“We see how information flows wash out the national mentality, identity of countries and nations. Social ties of people, ways of thinking, methods of communication, perception of reality are changing significantly. In this context, it is essential to promote the principles of humanity and justice, the priorities of strong family relations and a healthy lifestyle,” Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in the course of the meeting.

The draft concept stipulates ‘information sovereignty as an inalienable and exclusive supreme right of the state’ to ‘independently determine’ rules of ownership, usage, and management of national information resources, to pursue an ‘independent foreign and domestic state information policy’, to shape the national information infrastructure, and ensure information security. It also focuses on the importance of active presence of the state in the Internet. In addition to official websites of government agencies the document mentions blogs, instant messaging apps, and social networks.

“We need to expand the domestic media’s sphere of influence; we should not be afraid to use new ways of work in the media space. We must learn how to beat fake news spreaders at their own game,” Lukashenka stressed.

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Belsat.eu, following BelTA

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