{"id":11523,"date":"2023-01-26T18:26:26","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T15:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/belarusian-regime-using-digital-tools-to-expand-crackdown-further-narratives\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"belarusian-regime-using-digital-tools-to-expand-crackdown-further-narratives","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11523\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarusian regime using digital tools to expand crackdown, further narratives"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Lesia Rudnik, of the Center for New Ideas<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In the last few weeks, Belarusian authorities convicted several \u00e9migr\u00e9 opposition leaders after holding trials without defendants being present. Security agencies reportedly demanded ransoms from IT professionals in exchange for not opening criminal cases. Police have arrested administrators of several small Telegram communities critical of the government. Authorities also stepped up propaganda on social media.\n<\/p>\n

New intimidation methods<\/h2>\n

\n\t The Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka regime has been using new techniques to silence its critics. Police opened criminal cases against Belarusians for liking posts on social media labeled extremist, identified activists and administrators of small Telegram communities, staged hoaxes to frame dissidents and launched fake accounts in an effort to identify opponents of the government.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Security agencies have distributed at least two fake messages to expose participants in the opposition\u2019s Pieramoha Plan, and embedded an agent with Chernaya Kniga Belarusi<\/span> (Black Book of Belarus), a campaign to expose the identities of police officers involved in brutality and human rights abuses, to identify people who shared data with the group.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In a recent development, law enforcers are said to have identified IT professionals who made donations to BySol, a foundation that helps victims of persecution, from their Facebook accounts. Law enforcers allegedly demand that the identified IT workers now make donations to government-controlled charities or face criminal prosecution for alleged extremism financing.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t As the crackdown continues unabated, the government has stepped up its propaganda. Pro-government influencers, bloggers, journalists and propagandists have taken to social media to amplify the government\u2019s message.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Authorities use Youtube, Telegram and TikTok to further official narratives and intimidate opponents. Police, for instance, have a habit of circulating videos in which those arrested on politically-motivated charges are forced to confess to alleged crimes.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Research has found that authorities have used multiple Telegram and TikTok accounts to distribute posts from pro-government channels. At least 50 personal TikTok accounts and communities have been involved, according to monitors. Some pro-government posts and flash mobs raked up millions of views.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The regime\u2019s knowhow such as trials in absentia have been extensively covered by pro-government Telegram channels to make opposition leaders fear for their own safety.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Still, methods used by authorities have not been as sophisticated as techniques employed by Russia and China. The latter has an army of censors to track banned content and has launched clones of popular Western social media to prevent the distribution of antigovernment narratives.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Russian cyber soldiers reportedly send an average of 4,000 requests a year to TikTok support to take down certain content.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Last year, Turkey filed 8,500 requests with Facebook support within six months, asking to remove posts. Belarusian officials have rarely used that tool. Belarus filed only one request for content removal with TikTok from January to June last year.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Anyway, digital harassment is a pronounced trend in Belarus as authorities seek to identify and intimidate critics instead of winning over audiences.\n<\/p>\n

Repressive arsenal to be expanded<\/h2>\n

\n\t There have been no signs of authorities planning to lower the level of intimidation. Quite the contrary, threats to donors, trials in absentia and other examples suggest that authorities are likely to experiment with new tools. Based on what other authoritarian regimes have practiced, the new tools may include:\n<\/p>\n

\n\t 1. Improved technologies to identify VPN users subscribed to media outlets labeled extremist\n<\/p>\n

\n\t 2. Higher numbers of censors at education establishments to monitor online information flows\n<\/p>\n

\n\t 3. A possible government watchdog to control the Internet similar to Russia\u2019s Roskomnadzor\n<\/p>\n

\n\t 4. Restrictions on access to foreign traditional and social media\n<\/p>\n

\n\t 5. New legislation governing the Internet, including rules for user identification and authentication, and the requirement to submit regular reports to secret services\n<\/p>\n

Cost is high, but \u0141uka\u0161enka is afraid to take his foot off the gas<\/h2>\n

\n\t Obviously, the campaign of terror stokes fear among opposition supporters, but it has not forced many to side with the regime. Quite the contrary, core opponents become angrier and are likely to be more radical as soon as an opportunity arises.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The government infuses taxpayer money into the relentless crackdown, so it may soon need to present its arguments and sell new propaganda narratives to explain the need for keeping it up.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka is simply afraid to take his foot of the gas for fear that opponents may strike back and also because he is eager to exact revenge on everyone who might have had something to do with protests against his controversial reelection in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lesia Rudnik, of the Center for New Ideas In the last few weeks, Belarusian authorities convicted several \u00e9migr\u00e9 opposition leaders after holding trials without defendants being present. Security agencies reportedly demanded ransoms from IT professionals in exchange for not opening criminal cases. Police have arrested administrators of several small Telegram communities critical of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11523","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBelarusian regime using digital tools to expand crackdown, further narratives | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Lesia Rudnik, of the Center for New Ideas In the last few weeks, Belarusian authorities convicted several \u00e9migr\u00e9 opposition leaders after holding\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11523\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belarusian regime using digital tools to expand 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