Belarus tried to block social networks

This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

For example, last night, access to the video hosting YouTube was disabled in Belarus for several hours. There are also problems with access to the social networks Discord, Twitch, TikTok, and Telegram.

Similar actions by Belarusian providers may indicate that the authorities are preparing to disable social networks in the country during the presidential elections on January 26. By restricting access to information, the Belarusian authorities are trying to complicate coordination during possible protests.

They recalled that the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus were accompanied by mass protests due to falsification of the results in favor of Alexander Lukashenko.

The EU did not recognize the elections in Belarus as free and fair, and Lukashenko as the legitimate president.

This year, five candidates are registered in the elections in Belarus, but there is no real political competition among them.

Protests in Belarus in 2020-2021

Mass protests in Belarus began after the presidential elections, which took place on August 9, 2020.

At that time, official data declared Lukashenko the "winner" with over 80% of the vote, but a significant part of society and international organizations declared the election fraudulent, accusing the authorities of large-scale violations.

Lukashenko's key opponent was Svitlana Tikhanovskaya, the wife of blogger Serhiy Tikhanovsky, who was under arrest at the time of the election. Due to her husband's inadmissibility from participating in the elections, Svitlana decided to run for office.

The protests were accompanied by brutal actions by law enforcement agencies, who used violence, carried out mass arrests, and tortured detainees. This caused widespread resonance and condemnation from the international community.

It recently became known that the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus has once again registered Alexander Lukashenko as a candidate for the country's presidency, scheduled for January 26.