Belarusian regime declares Postimees an extremist publication

TALLINN – The regime of Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka declared the website of the Estonian newspaper Postimees to be "extremist material" last week, meaning that citing it in Belarus can now result in criminal charges, Postimees reports.

The Belarusian authorities added Postimees to the list of extremist materials last Thursday, August 6.

The Russian-language edition of Postimees writes that the lists of extremist materials are used in Belarus as a tool of repression. For distributing materials from banned sources – including sharing or linking to them on social media – Belarusian citizens can face both administrative and criminal penalties. This is how the regime attempts to eliminate all independent sources of information and subject the Belarusian population only to the influence of state propaganda.

Belarus has several state lists related to so-called extremist activity. Media publications, websites, Telegram channels, other online resources, as well as organizations, civic initiatives, and individuals can be added to these lists.

At the same time as Postimees, the Belarusian regime also added the TikTok account Valera Belarus, Pavel Latushka's Threads account, and the Telegram bots Listovki bot, Bot ByProsvet, Distributor bot, and Black Map of Occupants to the list of extremist materials.

The decision by the Belarusian authorities to declare Postimees extremist is part of the Alyaksandr Lukashenka regime's systematic campaign to completely suppress freedom of speech and create an information vacuum in the country.

This move reflects the nature of the Lukashenka regime. Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ruled Belarus uninterruptedly since 1994, maintaining his power through authoritarian methods.

Following the 2020 presidential elections, where widespread protests erupted against the falsified results, the regime launched a large-scale crackdown. During these repressions, independent media was dismantled, thousands of civic associations were shut down, and hundreds of people were declared political prisoners.

On the international stage, the Lukashenka regime is entirely dependent on the Kremlin's support. As Vladimir Putin's closest ally, he allowed Belarusian territory to be used for the incursion of Russian troops into Ukraine in 2022 and has at the same time increasingly adopted Russia's repressive practices. Blocking foreign media and labeling them as 'extremist' or 'undesirable' is one of the common methods used by Moscow and Minsk to silence dissent.