Lukashenka and empty Internet :: Charter'97 :: News

Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s statement on the necessity of the Internet monitoring was unambiguously estimated as the authorities’ attempt to “fasten” the remaining “screws” and to deprive Belarusians of a single opportunity to learn the truth about the things happening in the country. That is really so. But there is an essential aspect- the media is to be cleaned off for the official propaganda which has never being able to compete with the free mass media without resorting to the master’s punishing hand.

Today the sight of the “Sovetskaya Belorussiya” newspaper with its half-million circulation of the published version has hardly one or two thousand daily attendances. Naturally, when the editions are paid from the state treasury and among the “forced” subscribers are those who are employed in the state sector of the economy, the completion may be forgotten. And how did it start?

In 1994the Sovetskaya Belorussiya circulation was not so huge. It succumbed to the Narodnaya Gazeta. And the Sovetskaya Belorussiya had only 100 thousand subscribers- the remnants of the soviet “luxury”. When under Lukashenka the administration of the president of Belarus became the founder of the periodical its circulation had immediately grown up. The huge “army” of readers has been formed and is being formed very easily: the subscription for the SB is a sacred duty of every state official.

But the internet users cannot be forced to the necessary site as there aren’t enough tools for that. Though different means are employed for disturbing the access to independent sites: in government institutions and state-owned companies the access to the Charter’97 site (www.charter97.org) is blocked. But such methods won’t help. People will continue looking for the uncensored information wherever possible but not in the Sovetskaya Belorussiya.

As far as other state periodicals are concerned they have appeared even in a harder situation. They are not technically developed and are full of the same propagandist “trash” though even less professional.
So, the state Internet resources will not survive on their own. They have accustomed to live on the state account and as far as their work is concerned even if they had got any skills they lost them in the period of the seeming prosperity. Thus, the authorities decided to help them by well-established means, i.e. by cleaning the internet space off for the official propaganda to be the first and the only.

The same thing happened to the radio stations and newspapers.The”101, 2” popular radio station appeared and became the first owing to its professionalism, to free information, speeches of oppositional politicians, fearless criticism of the power, talented journalists and class music .The authorities’ common sense prompted to close the radio station because it was popular and listened to by the people…And furthermore, it broadcasted in the Belarusian language! And after showing their indignation the people had nothing to do but to start listening to imageless uncountable radio stations- clones. And the marvelous news broadcasted by those station run about everything you like –about rain in the Sahara desert, for example, but not about the arrests of 500 people in the central square of Minsk during the oppositional demonstration.

The situation with newspapers only y confirms the rule. Circulations of state editions are high but their efficiency is low. Both the working people and the state officials can be made to subscribe to the newspaper but nobody can make them read it. Their information is too good to be true…

For this reason, first, the fearless”Svaboda” newspaper was closed. Then the megapopular “Imya” disappeared .After timely claims of the top officials the “Naviny’ and “Nasha Svaboda” periodicals were made bankrupt. And finally the”Belorusskaya delovaya gazeta” newspaper was closed. There is almost no independent press in the regions either-Pagonya, Mestnoye vremya, Intex-press, Birzha Informatsyi, Vitebskaya Tribuna and many other editions were put and end to. The others have been forced to the level of survival after they were deprived of the distribution through the Belpochta and Belsoyuzpechat state-owned correspondence distributors .The private distributors’ activities have been maximally complicated. No free press has been left- long live dull local “agitprop”.

The same actions were taken against the TV. First of all, Pavel Sheremet and Vital Syamashka’s programs on the BT were closed. Then after cleaning the state TV channels off there came the Russian channels turn. The talented and purely honest Pavel Selin was sacked from the NTV after his report on the people’s writer Vasyl Bykau’s funeral when dozen thousand people came out to part with their beloved compatriot. After the”Rossiya” TV channel announced how many people had actually participated in the oppositional demonstration in Minsk – the correspondent office of the channel was closed. Then there was along bargaining with the Russian authorities. They came to the common agreement at last and they continue working. But better not. There is no use of those pocket journalists’ stay in Belarus, only losses to their employers.

Today the similar lot has been foreseen for Internet. That is why the number of its users has doubled, and, according to Lukashenka, the internet resources influence is growing. But time has come for the Belorussian ruler to understand that it is senseless to continue the endless saving of the boarders-propagandists from the completion, it is impossible to turn the progress back and to make the people who have already gulped a bit of freedom to stand in line with their hands behind the back and believe the newspaper with a pervasive title “Sovetskaya Belorussiya” .There is no Sovetskaya Belorussiya anymore and it will never be again. Only the European Belarus can appear.