{"id":198014,"date":"2026-07-31T14:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198014\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T14:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:09:11","slug":"belarus-brands-polish-press-agencys-website-extremist","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198014\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus brands Polish Press Agency\u2019s website \u201cextremist\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

July 31, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The Horki District Court in the Mahilo\u016d region has designated the website of the Polish Press Agency (PAP) as \u201cextremist content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a comment, the Polish national news agency\u2019s CEO Marek B\u0142o\u0144ski condemned the designation as an \u201cattempt to restrict access to truthful and independent information\u201d and vowed to continue covering events in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja described the move as a recognition of PAP\u2019s<\/em> impact on Belarusians and \u201canother demonstration of the regime\u2019s weakness and absurdity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2023, PAP<\/em> reported that Belarusian authorities had banned its correspondent Justyna Prus from entering the country for five years. The journalist, who had worked for the agency in Belarus since 2016, was denied entry by Belarus\u2019 Committee for State Security (KGB) without explanations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prus had a valid accreditation to work in Belarus and covered widespread protests that erupted after the presidential election in 2020 and the migrant crisis at the border with Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, the websites of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Russian service of Voice of America were added to the Belarusian interior ministry\u2019s list of \u201cextremist content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime introduced the \u201cextremist content\u201d designation in the wake of the 2020 mass protests against election fraud to punish Belarusians for following critical media outlets and social media accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian law enforcement officers randomly check people\u2019s phones to see who they are following. Those found to possess or share links to banned media and accounts are punished by fines or jail sentences of up to 15 days under Article 19.11 of the Administrative Offenses Code. It does not carry any punishment for those producing banned content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police forced some of those arrested to confess to following \u201cextremist\u201d content before a video camera and then posted forced confessions on Telegram accounts to intimidate the public. State television journalists have been involved in recording forced confessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extremist content list contains thousands of entries, so it is actually hard for people to follow it and delete blacklisted content from their devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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