Blizko.by Instagram Page Designated ‘Extremist’ in Belarus

The Belarusian Information Ministry has updated the “Republican List of Extremist Materials”. Among other resources, the Instagram page of the Blizko.by media outlet was added to the list. The corresponding decision was issued by the Tsentralny District Court of Minsk on July 13.

The page has now been deleted. The outlet’s editorial team made the decision, publishing the following comment:

“Dear readers. The Tsentralny District Court of Minsk has designated the blizko.by_ account on the Instagram social network as extremist material. The Blizko.by editorial team is currently investigating what exactly happened. To protect the interests of our readers and partners, we have already deleted this account”.

The following were also added to the list:

• the Telegram channels “League of Free Nations”, “NORD Karjalan Heimoryhmä” and “Vasilina Orlova: Notes of an Anthropologist”;
• the Instagram pages “paru.bok” and “Zukhvaly Parubok”;
• the Facebook pages “Volny Belarus” and “Mikhail Boika”;
• the jam-news.nеt website;
• the website and social media pages of Fundacja OKNO NA WSCHÓD;
• the YouTube channel “Viachaslau Sikora” and the film “How We Were Betrayed. Belarus 2020” posted on it;
• the Dzen page “ANTECC TYPLY”;
• the Threads page “i.m._yan_belarus”;
• the TikTok pages “Disident”, “Rada BNR”, “aquaheadhoe” and “Lilith Smith”.

As a reminder, the Belarusian authorities use extremism charges to target Lukashenka’s opponents and dissent in general.