Belarusian MPs to discuss amendments to media law

April 7, BPN. The House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the National Assembly, will discuss amendments to the media law “to respond to destructive processes,” MP Lidzija Ananič said in her Telegram channel.

The amendments will “regulate the popular news aggregators” and serve as “a symmetrical response to possible attacks of hostile countries against the Belarusian media,” Ananič noted.

Previous amendments to the media law date back to the spring of 2021, when authorities banned publishing results of independent opinion polls, allowed prosecutors to restrict access to online media and prohibited foreigners from founding media outlets.

Authorities have been persecuting independent media since the 2020 presidential election. Hundreds of journalists and dozens of media outlets were forced to flee Belarus and are currently operating abroad.

Since 2021, authorities branded a number of independent media outlets as extremist groups, including BelaPAN, Belsat TV, Radio Svaboda, Naša Niva, Chestnaya Gazeta, and Euroradio.

At least 35 media workers are behind bars in Belarus, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.