Staying online in Belarus
p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- Belarus says it won’t use a new law to restrict the Internet, says an aide to president Alexander Lukashenko.
Approved by parliament last month, the media law doesn’t specifically require sites to be registered, “but allows their regulation to be overseen by government decisions,” says the Moscow Times, going on »»»
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the continent’s leading rights watchdog, called for rejection of the law before its passage.
Independent journalists in the country of 10 million had expressed fears that web sites could be closed down.
“All talk about Belarus introducing restrictions on the Internet is just sheer stupidity,” said Vsevolod Yanchevsky, presidential adviser responsible for ideology.
“The authorities feel strong enough not to be afraid of anything, including biased ideas,” Yanchevsky said, according to the Moscow Times.
“On the contrary, it is in our interest to have free development of the Internet and no restrictions. The Internet will be free in Belarus.”
Lukashenko is barred from the US and European Union because he allegedly rigged his 2006 re-election.
Since 1994, when he came to power,, “many independent publications have been closed down, leaving the Internet as the chief means of information on the country’s small, and often divided, liberal and nationalist opposition,” says the story, adding:
“State media in the country, wedged between Russia and three European Union states, report at length on the president’s activities and heap lavish praise on his initiatives. Opposition figures are given little air time apart from brief spots, as required by law, during election campaigns.”
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.Stumble It!
Moscow Times – Minsk Says Internet to Stay Free, July 23, 2008
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