Human Constanta Website and Social Media Added to “Extremist Materials” List

The Belarusian Ministry of Information has updated its list of “extremist materials”.

The website and social media accounts of the human rights organisation Human Constanta have been added to the list. A court in the Chashniki district ruled on February 24 that their information products are extremist. The list includes accounts on Facebook, VKontakte, Instagram, X and YouTube.

The updated list also includes:

• the Instagram account “belarus_about”,
• the YouTube video “Putin Is Preparing the Seizure of Belarus — Did Lukashenka Agree? What Is Happening. Demchenko”,
• the TikTok accounts “nna” and “Belarus | Without Filters”,
• the Telegram channels “Chat of Electoral District No. 100” and “Control of Occupiers and Prison Vans. Minsk”.

It should be noted that the TikTok account “Belarus | Without Filters” has been added to the list for the fourth time. On February 13 it was designated extremist by the Minsk District Court, on February 18 under a slightly different spelling by the Kalinkavichy District Court, on February 20 as an “open group” by the Yelsk District Court, and finally on February 25 by the Shklow District Court.

Accusations of extremism are regularly used by the Belarusian authorities to persecute political opponents and dissent more broadly.