Belarus

In August 2020, Belarusians took to the streets to protest the results of a rigged presidential election. The protests soon became the largest in the country’s history and were eventually violently supressed, with tens of thousands arrested, beaten and prosecuted. Extensive disinformation campaigns continue to enable and accompany the brutality of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime against its own citizens, independent media and civil society.

The Belarusian state-controlled media have been complicit in the brutal crackdown on dissent in the country. Forced, televised “confessions” from political prisoners is just one of many examples, illustrating that state-controlled media have become an extension of a repressive state apparatus in Belarus. We also observed how the Belarusian state-controlled media aided Belarusian officials in weaponising migration into the EU.

Furthermore, the Lukashenka regime and its media apparatus have been instrumental in supporting Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Belarusian authorities have repressed social media as well – for example by declaring many popular independent Telegram channels as “extremist material”.

At the same time, pro-Kremlin outlets continue to support and facilitate disinformation campaigns in and around Belarus, falsely accusing the West of engineering a “colour revolution”, claiming that the democratic Belarusian opposition is a “puppet of the West”, and labelling pro-democracy supporters as “zmagars”, extremists, terrorists and Nazi disciples.

The East Stratcom Task Force has been closely observing the media and disinformation landscape in Belarus. Below is our collection of articles on disinformation and information manipulation targeting democratic Belarus, exercised both by Lukashenka’s and Putin’s ecosystems of information manipulation.

56 articles
Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners in Belarus - 27 November

Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners in Belarus - 27 November

The number of political prisoners in Belarus is growing with now near 1,450; up from 1,000 in February. The war in Ukraine and solidarity of Belarusians and civil society with Ukraine grant new reasons for the Lukashenka’s regime to target ordinary civilians. Even civic activism and basic right of freedom of expression online are under heavy scrutiny and prosecution.
Laughs and tragedy: Absurd repression in Belarus

Laughs and tragedy: Absurd repression in Belarus

Despite a proclaimed victory over a “Western-instigated colour revolution”, Lukashenka’s Belarus regime continues large-scale repressions. The regime fears the popular voice and the prison sentence of 18-years recently handed to opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski illustrate this. In other cases it borders tragicomedy or paranoia.
A Dictator in Panic Forces Belarus to Live in Fear

A Dictator in Panic Forces Belarus to Live in Fear

An illegitimate president in panic forces the Belarusian people to live in fear. Barys Haretski, vice president of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, currently in exile in Ukraine, talks about the state of public discourse and the future of independent voices in Belarus.
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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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