Chair of the Council of the Republic Natallia Kachanava said she would like Belarusian residents to bear responsibility for public complaints posted on social media. At the same time, in her view, the issue should be approached in a balanced way.
“We are currently working on the law on citizens’ appeals. Of course, people should bear some responsibility. If you are bringing some issue into the public sphere through social media, then that information should be absolutely accurate. And very often, you are right, this is absolutely not the case. When they begin to examine more deeply and in more detail what our citizens are claiming when they post information on TikTok or some other information channel, it often turns out to be completely inaccurate information.
And here it seems to me that there should still be some responsibility for what you convey and release into the public sphere. How else could it be? Because you understand that when people begin to look into it, others immediately read it and think: yes, how could they have acted like that, nobody saw what was happening on the ground. But when you speak with the other side, you understand that it is not all simple, not everything is so straightforward. We have such situations, and we receive such appeals”, she said.
Kachanava believes that at the same time the issue should be treated carefully.
“But you know, when people come directly and attend an appointment with you, and you look them in the eye, then you can already understand whether it is really true, or whether there is, to put it mildly, inaccurate information in what the applicants are saying. I think this should be approached in a very balanced way”, she added.