Editing Mass media in Belarus (section)

== Censorship and media freedom ==
{{main|Censorship in Belarus}}

[[Reporters Without Borders]] ranked [[Belarus]] 154th out of 178 countries in its 2010 [[Press Freedom Index]].<ref>[http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2010,1034.html ''Press Freedom Index 2010'']  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124050702/http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2010,1034.html |date=24 November 2010 }}, Reporters Without Borders, 20 October 2010</ref> In 2011, Belarus scored 92 on a scale from 10 (most free) to 99 (least free) in ''Freedom of the Press'' report. The score placed Belarus ninth from the bottom of the 196 countries included in the report.<ref name="fh">[http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010 "Country report: Belarus"], ''Freedom of the Press 2011'', Freedom House, 21 April 2011</ref> The situation continued to deteriorate, in 2022 the country had only 8 points out of 100.<ref name=freedomreports24>{{cite web
| url =https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2022
| title =Freedom in the World: Belarus
| publisher = Freedom House
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref> On the scale of Internet freedom, Freedom House's 2022 report described Belarus as ‘not free’ country with only 25 points out of 100.<ref name=freedomreports24/> The authorities dominate the information sphere, the ongoing crackdown on independent media goes on since the [[2020 Belarusian presidential election|2020 presidential election]].<ref name=europarl/><ref name=baj/><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2022)698922
| title =Media environment in Belarus
| date =2022-02-10
| publisher =European Parliament
| access-date =2024-03-08}}</ref> As of 2023, Belarus ranks 157th in the [[World Press Freedom Index]],<ref name=baj23/> almost no independent media outlets still work inside the country.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-exile-media-struggling-money/32817978.html
| title =Hard Times: Belarusian Media Abroad Say They Lack Money For Their 'Mission'
| last =Vasyukovich
| first =Raman
| date =2024-02-13
| publisher = Radio Liberty
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref>

In 2021, the [[Belarusian Association of Journalists]] reported more than 60 cases of criminal prosecution of journalists and bloggers.<ref name=baj/> [[BelaPAN#2020s|BelaPAN]], [[Nasha Niva#State pressure|Nasha Niva]] and [[Tut.By#2021 crackdown|TUT.by]],<ref name=baj/><ref name=europarl/>  as well as 410 Telegram and 20 YouTube channels were declared ‘extremist’ in 2021.<ref name=baj/> As of 2023, 33 journalists were in jail, including chief editor of [[Tut.by]] [[Marina Zolotova]], chief editor of [[Nasha Niva]] [[Jahor Marcinovič]], ''Belsat'' reporters [[Katsyaryna Andreeva|Katerina Andreeva]] and [[Darya Chultsova]], Ksenia Lutskina (''Press Club Belarus''), Denis Ivashin (''Novy Chas''), [[Andrzej Poczobut]], Alexander Ivulin (''Tribuna.com''), Valeriya Kostyugova (''Belarusian Yearbook''), Irina Levshina (BelaPAN), [[Gennady Mozheyko]] (''Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi''), Andrei Kuznechik (''Radio Liberty''), Serhiy Satsuk (''Yezhednevnik''), Oleg Gruzdilovich (''Narodnaia Volia''), Ihar Losik (''Radio Free Europe'', ''Belarus Golovnogo Mozga'' Telegram channel), Eduard Palchys (''PALCHYS'' Telegram news channel), and many more.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230317-belarus-jails-top-news-site-managers-for-12-years
| title =Belarus jails top news site managers for 12 years
| date =2023-03-17
| publisher =France 24
| access-date =2024-03-08}}</ref><ref name=baj/><ref name=ecpmf>{{cite web
| url =https://www.ecpmf.eu/33-journalists-imprisoned-in-belarus/
| title =In Belarus, 33 journalists remain imprisoned. This is who they are and why they were detained
| last =Haluza
| first =Sviatlana
| date =2022-02-07
| publisher =ECPMF
| access-date =2024-03-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://rsf.org/en/rsf-unveils-portraits-journalists-detained-belarus
| title =RSF unveils portraits of journalists detained in Belarus
| date =2022-06-09
| publisher = Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref><ref name=rsf/>{{sfn|IREX|2022|p=10}}<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://apnews.com/article/belarus-trial-journalist-lukashenko-crackdown-opposition-7dff981bc424057b9b21e126dd903782
| title =Belarusian journalist accused of being in an extremist group after covering protests gets prison
| date =2024-01-30
| publisher = AP News
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref>

In 2023, BBC called the Belarusian media environment one of the most repressive in Europe.<ref name=bbc23>{{cite web
| url =https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17941331
| title =Belarus media guide
| date =2023-06-28
| publisher =BBC
| access-date =2024-03-05}}</ref>