Mass media in Belarus

The mass media in Belarus consists of TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, cinema, and Internet-based websites/portals. The media is monopolized by the government, which owns all TV channels, most of the radio and print media. Broadcasting is mostly in Russian, and Russian media are widely present. After 2020, all independent media were pushed out of the country. The Law on Mass Media has been repeatedly amended and tightened, making it virtually impossible for independent journalists and publications to operate. European, Ukrainian and news websites were blocked in Belarus. The Constitution of Belarus guarantees freedom of speech, but this is contradicted in practice by repressive and restrictive laws. Arbitrary detention, arrests, and harassment of journalists are frequent in Belarus. Anti-extremism legislation targets independent journalism, including material considered unfavourable to the president. As of 2024, Belarus ranks 167th in the World Press Freedom Index. BBC describes the Belarusian media environment as one of the most repressive in Europe.

Legislative framework and regulatory authorities

Unlike other post-Soviet states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Belarus preserved state control and ownership over most national media. De jure, the constitution of Belarus guarantees the rights of citizens to freedom of speech, prohibits censorship and monopolization of mass media. De facto, any criticism of president Lukashenko and his government is considered a criminal offense, the country is in a state of ‘legal default’, bureaucracy uses politicized court rulings to oppress independent media and any voices except ones that are completely loyal to the regime. No special laws require transparency in media ownership, and there are no legal guarantees of public access to government records.

Since 2009, all media outlets (including websites) must register to avoid being blocked. On 5 January 2015, the Law of the Republic of Belarus made all information published on the Internet be subject to the Criminal Code. Further amendments to the Mass Media Law adopted in June 2018 introduced tighter accreditation rules, allowed an extrajudicial shutting down online and social media, made website owners legally responsible for the content of their comments sections and obliged them to provide the technical possibility to identify the authors of these comments. Though unregistered web media were obliged to fulfill the obligations for the registered media, they were deprived of corresponding rights such as the right to journalist accreditation and a right to keep their sources in secret. For many years, strict accreditation rules and denials have been one of the authorities' tools to keep independent media out of public and official events, impose fines and ensure that only publications loyal to the government cover events.

2021 became the record year regarding law amendments aimed to control and repress the media market and its employees. Among the rest, MIB was allowed to shut down media outlets without court decision, news media were banned from live reporting on unauthorized mass gatherings, and results of opinion polls that weren't approved by the government were prohibited to publish. Any person or news organization was barred from opening a new media outlet within five years of authorities’ closing any of its other affiliated outlets.

A new set of restrictive amendments to the Law on Mass Media was adopted in 2023. It allowed authorities to ban foreign media outlets from unfriendly countries, specified the functioning of news aggregators and the legal status of their owners, expanded the list of grounds for cancelling a certificate of State registration of a mass media outlet and restricting access to an Internet resource.

Censorship and media freedom

Reporters Without Borders ranked Belarus 154th out of 178 countries in its 2010 Press Freedom Index. In 2011, Belarus scored 92 on a scale from 10 (most free) to 99 (least free) in Freedom of the Press report. The score placed Belarus ninth from the bottom of the 196 countries included in the report. The situation continued to deteriorate, in 2022 the country had only 8 points out of 100. On the scale of Internet freedom, Freedom House's 2022 report described Belarus as ‘not free’ country with only 25 points out of 100. As of 2023, Belarus ranks 157th in the World Press Freedom Index,

In 2021, the Belarusian Association of Journalists reported more than 60 cases of criminal prosecution of journalists and bloggers.

In 2023, BBC called the Belarusian media environment one of the most repressive in Europe.

Media landscape

Belarus hosts state and privately owned media, however, the latter sector keeps decreasing due to the repressive media environment. As of 1 September 2023, there were 921 printed publications including 371 newspapers and 561 magazines (400 state-run), 7 news agencies (2 state-run), 52 online media outlets (45 state-run), 99 radiostations (63 state-run), and 93 TV channels (41 state-run).

Most media outlets are Russian-language, Back in 2010, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović "said [that] pluralism was non-existing in the broadcasting sector, restricted in the print media and vulnerable on the Internet". Five years later, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus Miklós Haraszti said: "Media pluralism is absent. Belarus is the only country in Europe with no privately owned nationwide broadcasting outlets".

In October 2020, the accreditations of all foreign journalists in Belarus were canceled by the authorities. Among those who reapplied successfully, the overwhelming majority are Russian journalists employed by state-run media.

As of 2023, only 7 agencies remained. Interfax-West ceased operations in Belarus on 1 January 2022, due to amendments made to the Law on Mass Media of the Republic of Belarus in May 2021. BelaPAN was declared extremist by the KGB, its editor-in-chief Irina Levshina and deputy director Andrey Aleksandrov were sentenced to 4 and 14 years in prison, respectively.

Print media

As of September 2023, 921 printed publications were registered in Belarus. Russian newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda (circulation of 203,000) and Argumenty i Fakty (120,000) are one of the most popular in Belarus.

The state-run Zvyazda Publishing House was founded in 2012. The list of its publications includes the Zvyazda daily (circulation of 20,000), LiM newspaper, Alesya, Polymya, Nyoman, Maladosts, Rodnaya Pryroda, and Vozhyk magazines. Four Quarters (books on the arts, history and geography), Belorusskaya Nauka (science), Tekhnologiya, Belovagroup, etc.

Independent publishers include Janushkevich, Knigazbor, Goliaths, Medisont, Limarius, Knihauka. All of them experience pressure from the authorities, obstruction of their activities, employees of some have been arrested.

Radio

In 2009, 158 radio stations were registered in the country, 137 state-owned and 21 private. By 2023, only 99 remained, 63 of them state-run. Alfa Radio is operated by the state Belarus Segodnya Publishing House.

TV

In 2018, TV served as a source of information for 72.0% of citizens, outperforming the Internet, which was a source for 60.4%. Daily TV viewership among Belarusians was 67.5%. It is monopolized by the government and managed by three biggest operator companies: STV, ONT, and BT-1. In the early 2000s, while the Russian mass media dominated in Belarus, it frequently invited Belarusian oppositioners and allowed criticism of Lukashenko. To avoid its influence, in 2002 a special presidential decree established the Second National Channel (BT-2) intending to replace Channel One Russia and also the amount of broadcast time allocated for the hugely popular Russian channels. Nowadays, the Media Law establishes a requirement for all editors of TV programs to ensure that the volume of TV programs of Belarusian (national) production is not less than 30%. Still, according to 2023 BBC analytics, Russian TV channels show higher viewership figures than Belarusian ones. Third leading channel is STV (Stolichnoye Televideniye), founded in 2000, rebroadcasts Russian REN TV.

Belsat TV, the first independent TV channel in Belarus, is in exile and bases in Poland.

In mid-2021, the Belarusian government sharply tightened control over media publications on the Internet and unleashed a repressive campaign against independent publications and bloggers. As of 2024, all major independent news outlets inside Belarus were shut down. Social media and messaging platforms remain available, though individual bans are widely practised. Such websites as belaruspartisan.by and belsat.eu are available only via VPNs and TOR connections.

During the Soviet era, Belarusfilms was nicknamed "Partizanfilm" due to its large number of films portraying the Soviet partisans' struggle against Nazi occupation. The studio, also noted for its children's films, has made over 130 animation films (most in Russian). Belarusfilm has produced about 10 feature films and four animated films per year since 1997.

Belarusian journalists adopted two ethical codes in 1995: the Code of Professional Etiquette of the Journalist of the Belarus Union of Journalists and the Code of Journalistic Ethics of the Belarus Association of Journalists.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists, established in 1995, united professionals from independent media and strived to defend freedom of speech, freedom of information, promote the professional standards of journalism, conduct monitoring of Belarusian press, and offer legal support to all media workers. The Association experienced significant pressure from the authorities since the 2000s. It was closed by the officials in 2021. On 28 February 2023, the KGB has designated the Association as an 'extremist formation' meaning that a participation in it can be punished with a prison sentence.

Notes

References

Sources

Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus