MINSK, 3 December (BelTA) – The main battles for Belarus are taking place not in the street, but in the media space, Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Andrei Kuntsevich said at a roundtable session titled “Mass media in the political process. Actual aspects of legislative regulation” in the House of Representatives, BelTA has learned.
“From my point of view, our today's conversation should be built around the fulfillment of the main task - ensuring the information security of our state and protecting its information sovereignty. Back in March last year, the president drew attention of some government agencies to the fact that information security should be based on a reasonable legal system and a common understanding of strategic goals and common tasks aimed at protecting the constitutional foundations of our state. I believe that in order to address this task we need to keep strengthening national mass media and timely adjusting the legal framework in accordance with the current challenges and threats,” Andrei Kuntsevich said.
According to him, it is obvious to everyone that the main battles for Belarus are not taking place in the street or even in high-profile offices, but in the mass media space. “We see open provocative activities of a number of opposition and foreign mass media time and time again. However, the year of 2020 turned out to be particularly tense for our mass media space. In pursuit of sensations, some mass media outlets, which are more appropriate to be called mass manipulation outlets, misreported events in our country, became accomplices of organizers of unauthorized speeches, trying to give them a radical, anti-state nature,” Andrei Kuntsevich said.
Andrei Kuntsevich stressed that the events of 2020 showed how important it is to have not only an up-to-date legislative framework, but also to develop appropriate practices of its application. “Unfortunately, some government bodies were inert, incompetent and passive in defending the public interests and we must sincerely acknowledge it. Often the Information Ministry had to fight alone. Moreover, the Belarus President Administration remains unsure that we have fine-tuned this process fully. Once again, in a situation where the country's information security is under threat, all government bodies without exception should take measures to protect it. We cannot ignore the facts when under the banners of ‘freedom of speech and democracy' they artificially fan up tensions in society, when there are purposeful efforts to pit Belarusians against each other,” he noted.
A separate topic of discussion is the internet community. “From my point of view, we need absolutely new solutions, including at the legislative level, to regulate the work with content in social media and messengers which replace traditional sources of information for many. A number of countries are not shy to go this way. I believe that we can draw on their experience,” Andrei Kuntsevich noted.
The extent of this problem can be seen through the analysis of some figures. “The monitoring of the information space shows a great involvement of citizens in various internet communities of destructive nature. For example, more than 1,000 Telegram channels have been set up to coordinate the protest movement at the level of courtyards and neighborhoods, and also large enterprises. In the context of Minsk's residential areas, this involvement makes up 6% to 15% of the total population of the Belarusian capital's administrative and territorial units. Some 50,000 to 100,000 messages are sent there every day. These are impressive figures, which we cannot ignore,” Andrei Kuntsevich said.
The deputy head of the Belarus President Administration added: “How can we counteract this today, including through legislative tools? How in general should we work in this direction? What role should government institutions, media communities and MPs play in it? I believe, these and other questions are extremely important today. I will be glad if our meeting will help us make at least some progress in the search for the necessary answers to them.”
Attending the roundtable are MPs, Information Minister Igor Lutsky, heads of the national mass media outlets, and representatives of the Belarusian Union of Journalists.
