Telegram removes major pro-government account

June 15, BPN. Telegram has removed a major pro-government account, Belarusian media report.

State-controlled television channel ONT said the Zheltyye Slivy account had 120,000 subscribers. It was blocked on Google-backed systems last week, and disappeared completely on June 14, the channel added, calling this an act of political censorship.

Last week, the Belarusian Information Ministry filed a complaint with Google regarding restrictions on the account.

In May, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee called on Telegram, Apple and Google to react to children’s rights violations by state-affiliated Telegram accounts. “We are talking about the practice of publishing ‘penitential’ videos, the participants of which are children,” the group said.

Zheltyye Slivy was arguably the state’s main propaganda mouthpiece on Telegram, a messaging app that played a significant role in the democratic protests in Belarus.