Foreign media to be checked for “harmfulness”

The Belarusian government has tightened the order of issuing permits for spreading foreign mass media.

On a decision of the Council of Ministers of Belarus, the Regulation on the order of issuing permits for spreading foreign mass media was amended, “Yezhednevnik” informs.

The amendments say that “a reason for issuing a permit for distributing products of foreign mass media in Belarus is absence of materials damaging national security; aimed at propaganda of war, violence, cruelty, extremist activity, taking drugs, psychotropic, toxic substances in non-medical purposes; containing information which is banned for spreading or has restricted access to in accordance with legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus; and implying other violations of the Belarusian laws.”

The Ministry of Information has the right to apply to authorized governmental bodies in line with their competence for confirming if products of foreign mass media comply with the requirements.

In means in fact that any Belarusian governmental body will have the right to ban spreading any foreign media outlet in Belarus.

We remind that Russian pro-democracy newspapers, “Novaya Gazeta”, “Kommersant”, “Moskovski Komsomolets”, are not sold in Belarusian newsstands; it is also impossible to subscribe for them.