{"id":4902,"date":"2022-09-13T18:37:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T15:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d9lb3qyw8jhbr.cloudfront.net\/?p=4902"},"modified":"2022-10-28T14:26:25","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T11:26:25","slug":"digital-rights-developments-in-belarus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d9lb3qyw8jhbr.cloudfront.net\/en\/digital-rights-developments-in-belarus\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital rights developments in Belarus: digital authoritarianism and digital resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When human rights are violated offline, digital rights are rarely spared. Authoritative governments are increasingly interested in developing oppressive techniques in the digital domain by increasing censorship, overregulating cyberspace, weaponizing tech to spread propaganda and surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Belarus is no exception. Notorious for being \u201cEurope\u2019s last dictatorship\u201d \u2014 with its vast history of dissidents\u2019 enforced disappearances, torture, political persecution, and appalling human rights record, \u2014 the role of Belarus as a digital and not merely \u201canalog\u201d dictator is less conspicious. While it is true that the control over Belarusian citizens online may not have reached the scale and professionalism of \u201ctextbook\u201d digital dictatorships, like China with its \u201cGreat Firewall\u201d or Russia with its \u201ctroll factories,\u201d the tendency towards tightening the grip on Internet freedoms is alarming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report analyzes the prevalent tendencies of digital authoritarianism in Belarus, the most common violations of human rights in the digital realm, as well as digital resistance tools used by civil society. The report also contains recommendations for the public and private sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n