Authorities issue regulation that makes it easier to seize domain names

January 22, Pozirk. The Operational and Analytical Center (OAC), a Belarusian agency in charge of information security, has issued a new regulation allowing it to revoke domain names “capable of harming the national interests” of Belarus.

The document published on the National Legal Internet Portal has entered into force. It does not specify ways in which websites can harm national interests. Domain names revoked for this reason will be reportedly entered on a special register.

Less than a year ago, the OAC issued a regulation allowing it to confiscate and sell domain names from media branded extremist groups. The agency almost immediately revoked website names from at least nine media outlets sites in the .by domain, including Mediazona. Belarus, Ex-Press.by, IntexPress and reform.by.

Domain name seizures were also documented in late 2023 and early 2024 as the OAC seized tut.by and affiliated domain names from the late media tycoon Juryj Zisier’s family and the baj.by domain name from the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ).

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned seizures of domain names from independent Belarusian media outlets, urging Minsk to stop using “extremism legislation as a censorship tool to silence independent reporting.”

Also read: CPJ slams domain name seizures as ruthless censorship