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New Information Minister Dzmitry Zhuk believes that other mechanisms of interaction should be sought with international internet platforms. He was answering a question about the possible blocking of YouTube after the video hosting platform removed the channels of three state media outlets.
“Any decision, especially one of this kind, such as a ban, must be carefully thought through. Its consequences must be considered. It must be appropriate and effective. If we declare something but cannot implement it, then it is better not to declare it at all. As for platforms used by Belarusian citizens, we need to act very carefully. You know the president’s position as well – he is not a supporter of bans. We need to seek other mechanisms of interaction with these major players in the global media space”, BelTA quoted Zhuk as saying.
Zhuk added that during his appointment, Alyaksandr Lukashenka spoke about the information war.
“It is being waged very harshly, without rules. A recent example is the removal from YouTube of three channels of our leading media outlets. And one of the tasks is to prevent the information war from becoming a hot one. Let it remain in the information sphere. We will have to fight on foreign territory – on YouTube, on Instagram”, he said.
The new minister stressed that the most important link here is state media employees, who in his view are soldiers in the information war.
“The environment in which they apply their efforts is a matter of technology, and we do not know what will be thrown at us tomorrow. But we must clearly understand that these are ideologically sound, competent people who are capable of mastering any work formats technologically. This is the most important thing that will need to be done in the information sphere”, he added.
Zhuk also sees another of his tasks as protecting against an “information invasion of negative trends that are contrary to the morals of Belarusians”.
It should be noted that during the appointment, Alyaksandr Lukashenka touched on the topic of YouTube. According to him, an ideological war is underway.
“As for our ideological component – there is a war going on. So far on the ideological front. Maybe that is for the best. We will keep fighting for now. You see that sometimes they treat us unfairly, like YouTube with the channels. You are experienced people and often speak about this yourselves and not only that. Our well-known programs with Eismant, I follow your discussions. You know this very well – there is a war going on. And I must say, this is a matter for the Presidential Administration, we do not have everything in order here”, Lukashenka said.
He also noted that Belarus was not doing very well in the film industry.
“I did not say this, but I absolutely support it. The fact that we have neglected cinema is unacceptable”, Lukashenka added.
It should be recalled that on Wednesday Alyaksandr Lukashenka appointed Information Minister Marat Markau as culture minister, while Dzmitry Zhuk, who had previously headed the publishing house Belarus Segodnya, took his place at the Information Ministry.