Editing Mass media in Belarus (section)

==Legislative framework and regulatory authorities==

Unlike other post-Soviet states after the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in the early 1990s, Belarus preserved state control and ownership over most national media. De jure, the [[constitution of Belarus]] guarantees the rights of citizens to freedom of speech, prohibits [[censorship]] and monopolization of mass media.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://baj.media/be/mediyaprava/svoboda-slova-i-pravo-na-informaciyu-v-staroy-i-novoy-konstituciyah/
| title =Свобода слова и право на информацию в «старой» и «новой» Конституциях
|language=ru
|trans-title=Freedom of speech and right to information in the "old" and "new" Constitutions
| date =2022-03-31
| publisher = Belarusian Association of Journalists
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref> De facto, any criticism of president Lukashenko and his government is considered a criminal offense, the country is in a state of ‘legal default’,{{sfn|IREX|2022|p=11}} bureaucracy uses politicized court rulings to oppress independent media and any voices except ones that are completely loyal to the regime.<ref name=fhr2015>{{cite web
| url =https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/FOTP_2015_Full_Report_PDF.pdf
| title =Freedom of the Press 2015 Report
| publisher = Freedom House
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref> No special laws require transparency in media ownership,{{sfn|IREX|2022|p=16}} and there are no legal guarantees of public access to government records.<ref name=fhr2015/>

Back in 2008 the government approved a Law on Mass Media that secured state control over media and made the Ministry of Information of Belarus (MIB) its main regulator.<ref name=europarl>{{cite web
| url =https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2022/698922/EPRS_BRI(2022)698922_EN.pdf
| title =Media environment in Belarus
| last =Przetacznik 
| first =Jakub
|last2=Tothova
|first2=Linda 
| date =2022
| publisher =European Parliament
| access-date =2024-03-05}}</ref> 

Since 2009, all media outlets (including websites) must register to avoid being blocked. On 5 January 2015, the Law of the Republic of Belarus made all information published on the Internet be subject to the Criminal Code. Further amendments to the Mass Media Law adopted in June 2018 introduced tighter accreditation rules, allowed an extrajudicial shutting down online and social media, made website owners legally responsible for the content of their comments sections and obliged them to provide the technical possibility to identify the authors of these comments. Though unregistered web media were obliged to fulfill the obligations for the registered media, they were deprived of corresponding rights such as the right to journalist accreditation and a right to keep their sources in secret.<ref name=europarl/><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2018/06/24/belarus-more-media-censorship-and-control-with-new-amendments-of-the-media-law/
| title =Belarus: more media censorship and control with new amendments of the Media Law
| date =2018-06-24
| publisher =European Federation of Journalists
| access-date =2024-03-08}}</ref> For many years, strict accreditation rules and denials have been one of the authorities' tools to keep independent media out of public and official events, impose fines and ensure that only publications loyal to the government cover events.<ref>{{cite news|last1=SIAKHOVICH|first1=VOLHA|title=Belarus: Government uses accreditation to silence independent press|url=https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2016/08/belarus-government-uses-accreditation-silence-independent-press/|access-date=28 April 2017|work=Index on Censorship|date=10 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/07/belarus-escalates-crackdown-independent-journalism
| title =Belarus Escalates Crackdown on Independent Journalism
| last =Kruope
| first =Anastasiia
| date =2020-12-07
| publisher = Human Rights Watch
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref>

2021 became the record year regarding law amendments aimed to control and repress the media market and its employees.<ref name=baj>{{cite web
| url =https://baj.media/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/smi-ru-ed_2021.pdf
| title =Media in Belarus
| date =2021
| publisher =BAJ
| access-date =2024-03-05}}</ref> Among the rest, MIB was allowed to shut down media outlets without court decision, news media were banned from live reporting on unauthorized mass gatherings, and results of opinion polls that weren't approved by the government were prohibited to publish. Any person or news organization was barred from opening a new media outlet within five years of authorities’ closing any of its other affiliated outlets.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://apnews.com/article/europe-belarus-media-business-government-and-politics-934283a5f4763a421391d8a55a89ad55
| title =Belarus president signs tough new law on media restrictions
| date =2021-05-24
| publisher =AP News
| access-date =2024-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://cpj.org/2021/05/belarusian-parliament-passes-raft-of-restrictive-media-regulations/
| title =Belarusian parliament passes raft of restrictive media regulations
| date =2021-05-04
| publisher =CPJ
| access-date =2024-03-09}}</ref>{{sfn|IREX|2022|p=3}}

A new set of restrictive amendments to the Law on Mass Media was adopted in 2023.<ref name=baj23>{{cite web
| url =https://baj.media/sites/default/files/analytics/files/2024/mm1752024en.pdf
| title =Mass Media in Belarus in 2023
| date =2024
| publisher =BAJ
| access-date =2024-03-05}}</ref> It allowed authorities to ban foreign media outlets from ''unfriendly'' countries,<ref name=ipi>{{cite web
| url =https://ipi.media/belarus-three-years-on-no-end-in-sight-to-repression-of-independent-media/
| title =Belarus: Three years on, no end in sight to repression of independent media
| last =Łuczka
| first =Karol
| date =2023-08-08
| publisher =Ipi.media
| access-date =2024-03-08}}</ref> specified the functioning of news aggregators and the legal status of their owners, expanded the list of grounds for cancelling a certificate of State registration of a mass media outlet and restricting access to an Internet resource.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://belsat.eu/ru/news/01-07-2023-lukashenko-podpisal-zakon-ob-izmenenii-zakona-o-sredstvah-massovoj-informatsii
| title =Лукашенко подписал закон «Об изменении Закона о средствах массовой информации» 
|language=ru
|trans-title=Lukashenko signs "On Amending the Law on Mass Media"
| date =2021-05-04
| publisher =Belsat
| access-date =2024-03-09}}</ref>