Website of the Northern Lights Film Festival Labeled “Extremist” in Belarus

The Ministry of Information of Belarus has updated the “Republican List of Extremist Materials.” Among other entries, the list now includes the website of the Northern Lights Film Festival and the Facebook account of its founder, Volha Chaikouskaya. The decision was made by the October District Court of Vitsiebsk on January 19, 2026.

The list also includes:

• the website of the “freeviasna” project;
• the website of the campaign “No to the Death Penalty in Belarus”;
• the TikTok account of Viasna;
• Threads accounts “Kastuś Suprać”, “girikalex”, “BRC / Belarusian Investigative Center”, “Andruś Bielavieshkin”;
• TikTok pages “Olga Karach”, “Andruś Bielavieshkin”;
• Odnoklassniki pages “Aleksandr Lastouski”, “Aleksandr Zhuravliou”, “Yahor Minakou”;
• the YouTube channel “BELSAT SHORTS”;
• the Instagram page “vslep”;
• VKontakte pages “We Are for a New Life!”, “Shatsilkavichy Political Blahblah Laboratory”.

Belarusian authorities regularly use extremism charges to crack down on political opponents and dissent more broadly.