Zhanna Litvina: Decree on Internet needs evaluation by OSCE and Council of Europe

The head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) commented on the Decree for Revising Measures of the National Segment of the World Wide Web signed by Lukashenka.

“This even was preceded by a broad discussion launched after text of the draft decree had appeared on the Internet. High ranking officials were evidently manipulating a public opinion. We heard several times that society is concerned over defending morality from threats of the Internet. The Operating and Analytical Center under Lukashenka has recently gained power of secret services including in the sphere of the Internet. At the same time we were told the state wouldn’t impose strict control and censorship. However, we learnt last week that the Internet lacks state ideology...” The document has been signed. It’s yet difficult to estimate its possible consequences; it should be examined by specialists. Full-rate evaluation by such international institutions as OSCE and the Council of Europe could help this,” Zhanna Litvina said.

The scandalous decree on national segment of the Internet has been signed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The decree is to come into effect on July 1. The text of the draft decree appeared on the Internet in last December. It brought on criticism by the Belarusian media community and international human rights organizations, including OSCE. Independent experts have no doubts that Lukashenka’s decree is primarily aimed at blocking oppositional websites during election campaign.