Tut.By demonstrates Internet censorship in Belarusian
The Belarusian portal Tut.By offered its users a blog service based on the popular WordPress platform. But, in order not to go to jail, bloggers must observe a certain caution, because a certain kind of statements, even in Bynet, are severely limited.
Obvious manifestations of censorship in blogs on Tut.By has not yet been noticed. At least, the words with the letter combinations “onions” / “onions” are not reflected in the publication of asterisks, as it was on the forums of the portal. An example of an innocent publication, "slaughtered" by censorship, can serve as a forum topic with the phrase "The Belarusian shooting team from *** became the European champion for the first time". The situation with these asterisks covering a possible sedition is ridiculous.
However, the emergence of such a content filtering system can be called a precautionary measure. Because the author of statements that in a given context can be interpreted as a public insult to the president, according to the law of the country, is punished with a fine, arrest, correctional work or restriction of liberty to two years - any of these sanctions on the choice of the case.
')
In addition, a person can stumble, putting in a blog thoughts about politics or the economy of Belarus. A special reminder of the portal is intended to prevent the terrible. It meticulously lists "restrictions on the content of statements," without any mention of the rights of users.
Thus, article 369.1, according to the memo, introduces the category of “political, economic, social and international position of Belarus” to the category of “undesirable”. For discrediting the country planted up to two years, cautions the document.
Meanwhile, according to media reports, blogging Belarusians are primarily interested in political issues. This is due to the small number of high-quality sources of information, whether newspapers or TV. It seems that even from the lips of fellow bloggers, Belarusians cannot get alternative opinions.
Obvious manifestations of censorship in blogs on Tut.By has not yet been noticed. At least, the words with the letter combinations “onions” / “onions” are not reflected in the publication of asterisks, as it was on the forums of the portal. An example of an innocent publication, "slaughtered" by censorship, can serve as a forum topic with the phrase "The Belarusian shooting team from *** became the European champion for the first time". The situation with these asterisks covering a possible sedition is ridiculous.
However, the emergence of such a content filtering system can be called a precautionary measure. Because the author of statements that in a given context can be interpreted as a public insult to the president, according to the law of the country, is punished with a fine, arrest, correctional work or restriction of liberty to two years - any of these sanctions on the choice of the case.
')
In addition, a person can stumble, putting in a blog thoughts about politics or the economy of Belarus. A special reminder of the portal is intended to prevent the terrible. It meticulously lists "restrictions on the content of statements," without any mention of the rights of users.
Thus, article 369.1, according to the memo, introduces the category of “political, economic, social and international position of Belarus” to the category of “undesirable”. For discrediting the country planted up to two years, cautions the document.
Meanwhile, according to media reports, blogging Belarusians are primarily interested in political issues. This is due to the small number of high-quality sources of information, whether newspapers or TV. It seems that even from the lips of fellow bloggers, Belarusians cannot get alternative opinions.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/4505/
All Articles