Media outlets to lose registration over terrorist or extremist designations

July 6, BPN. Belarusian authorities may annul the registration of media outlets if founders of editorial boards are blacklisted as involved in terrorist or extremist activities, says the amended media law that has been published on the National Legal Internet Portal.

Authorities may also prohibit the distribution of foreign media in Belarus in case its country of origin bans it, the document says. Its journalists will lose accreditation and offices while users may face restrictions accessing it.

The amendments introduce more grounds for blocking access to an online media outlet, including refusal or failure to provide information at the request of the regulator, including personal data of media owners, as well as sharing TV and radio content of another media lacking registration.

The amended media law will enter in force three months after its official publication.

Belarusian independent media outlets were mostly wiped out in a crackdown after the disputed 2020 presidential election. Many newsrooms either closed down or relocated abroad following searches, confiscations of equipment, arrests, and website blocking.

Remaining independent media based in the country avoid political topics for fear of closure. Authorities use terrorism and extremism designations to silence critical voices.

 At least 34 media workers are behind bars in Belarus, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). The BAJ is outlawed in Belarus and is currently based in a foreign country.

New amendments to the media law “create conditions for total control of information and suppression of the free exchange of opinions,” said Alina Koŭšyk of the opposition’s transition cabinet.