How can journalists in Belarus carry on reporting in extreme conditions? How can international organizations support Belarusian media? And what is the future of journalism in the country, which is currently facing a severe crackdown on media?聽
On November 23, 2021, five journalists and media freedom advocates discussed these questions during the panel discussion “Reporting against all odds: Journalism in Belarus today” jointly hosted by IPI and ARTICLE 19. Their key takeaway: international support is essential to the future of Belarusian media. Support is needed both for independent journalists still in Belarus and those in exile.
More than 500 journalists have been detained since last year鈥檚 fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus. Around 130 journalists have been sentenced to different forms of detention. 30 journalists were still behind bars. There have been 140 raids on media outlets since the protests. Access to 140 media outlets and platforms has been blocked.
Opening the event with these simple yet painful statistics, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen, the panel鈥檚 moderator, illustrated the severe crackdown of the media in Belarus since August 2020.
Starting the discussion, Hanna Liubakova, a Belarusian freelance journalist, explained the crackdown on Belarusian media in more detail, by outlining how the regime has increasingly criminalized journalism since the 2020 protests, applying arrests, violence and raids of independent media. 鈥淣ow there鈥檚 a practical disappearance of journalists in Belarus鈥�, Liubakova stated. 鈥淭he government is depriving journalists of accreditation, there are no foreign journalists anymore.鈥� A 鈥渄isastrous situation鈥�, she said, and added: 鈥淥nce independent information is fully destroyed, it is very easy for foreign countries to spread their propaganda and narratives in Belarus.鈥�
Journalism in exile
The media crackdown has led to most journalists leaving the country, the Belarusian investigative journalist Stanislau Ivashkevich pointed out. Those that stay face repression and detention.
Despite having left the country, many of these journalists still report on Belarus from abroad, Ivashkevich said. They do so with help from citizen journalists and officials sympathizing with independent media, who send material. 鈥淏ut such exile journalism also comes with severe difficulties, like shooting videos and getting guests in front of the camera鈥�, he noted. Reporting from abroad is much more costly and difficult than in-country journalism, Ivashkevich pointed out. For example, extra researchers need to be hired. 鈥淭his brings these journalists under a great financial strain.鈥�
Misuse of anti-extremism laws
The Belarusian authorities have increasingly used anti-extremism and anti-terrorism laws to silence information channels since the protests, Joanna Szymanska, senior programme officer for Europe and Central Asia at ARTICLE 19, explained. Such channels are blocked by Belarusian authorities and cannot be accessed without circumvention, such as the use of a VPN.
It鈥檚 not just journalists who are at risk from such moves. Viewers have started to unfollow popular Telegram channels, afraid of criminal prosecution. 鈥淥bviously, not everyone is ready to take risks to follow these channels鈥�, Szymanska said. 鈥淭here are already well-known media outlets on this list and we can only expect the list will be growing. Obviously this will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.鈥�
Miklos Haraszti, former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, agreed that the Belarusian authorities particularly suppress human rights in the digital sphere, by combining existing bans on freedom of assembly with new internet laws. 鈥淲earing an extremist badge is normally banned during a protest, banning freedom of assembly. But the Belaursian authority bans wearing it in an empty street, or on the internet鈥�, he said. 鈥淭his very tight suppression of human rights is key to the human rights situation in Belarus.鈥�
What can help journalists?
Teresa Ribeiro, the OSCE representative on freedom of the media, said that her office has tried to carry out dialogue with the authorities. But this dialogue, she said, had been a 鈥渇ailure鈥� as her proposals were not accepted by the Belarusian government. 鈥淭herefore I try to combine this institutional approach with public interventions in order to point out the situation with the government” and urge it to take responsibility and protect journalists, she said.
Harazti agreed that international organizations should publicly pressure the Belarusian authorities. 鈥淎nd it is important to always name the victims of the media crackdown in Belarus. Not behind closed doors, but in public鈥�, he said. 鈥淭his might not solve the situation for those oppressed, but it makes them visible, and it shows Lukashenko they cannot get away with oppressing them. It is about living people, after all.鈥�
Emergency programs
Besides dialogue and public pressure, international organizations and governments should build up a special emergency program to support journalists in Belarus, Liubakova said. This program should provide well-targeted support – including creative ways to deliver the support as necessary – to both Belarusian journalists still in the country, as well as exile media. Those who have left the country also need relocation support. 鈥淟et鈥檚 imagine how difficult it is to open a bank account in Lithuania, get a visa or register an outlet abroad鈥�, she said.
Upholding the structure and knowledge of Belarusian journalism abroad is key for the future of media in the country, Ivashkevich said. 鈥淥nly by sustaining Belarusian media outlets, can we bring journalism back to Belarus and reinvent journalism. Once you lose the core team, it is much more difficult to uphold independent journalism in Belarus. It is therefore important for our international friends to keep supporting this.鈥�
The reliance on citizen journalists for this system demands new, creative technological strategies, the panelists agreed. 鈥淲itnesses from within the country need technological security to help deliver information to journalists in exile鈥�, Liubakova said. In addition, the Belarusian audience needs technological tools, for example VPNs, to safely receive information, even when that information is marked as 鈥榚xtremist鈥�, Szymanska added.
On Griffen鈥檚 last question whether there is also hope, Liubakova stated that there is still a lot of optimism and resilience amongst Belarusian journalists. 鈥淭here is a lot of solidarity between us, all together, there always has been a war against journalism. We are used to surviving.鈥� Her most important message: 鈥淟et鈥檚 invest in Belarusian journalism, so that we won鈥檛 lose it.鈥�