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Office of OSCE media freedom representative unveils conclusions about Lukashenka’s Internet use decree

The Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media said that Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s Internet use decree features several positive elements, but much will depend on how it will be enacted, BelaPAN said.

The Office commissioned a legal analysis of the decree that was signed by the Belarusian leader on February 1. Its findings were included in a regular report of OSCE Media Freedom Representative Miklos Haraszti to the OSCE Permanent Council; the report was released earlier this month.

The Office’s expert mentions positive elements incorporated into the decree, including its priorities to make information on governmental agencies more accessible to citizens, increase the protection of copyrights on the Internet, introduce simplified registration procedures for Internet service providers and not to punish Internet service providers for information available on the Internet.

At the same time, the expert expresses a series of concerns about how the legal instrument may be used.

The expert is concerned about the provisions that Internet clubs and cafes should keep records of their visitors and the identification requirement will apply to technical means of Internet service users.

The possibility of restricting access to web sites at the request of a user is also worrying, the expert says.

“It is unclear who and how will determine the essence of information in relation to which a request to limit access has been received,” the findings read. “The definitions of types of harmful information under Belarusian legislation allow for legal ambiguity of categories.”

“In the event of failure to comply with an order by a relevant body to liquidate violations or to suspend Internet services, the responsibility for content is transferred to Internet service providers, owners and administrators of places of collective Internet use,” they say.

The expert also questions the requirement that information and materials of a media outlet disseminated via the Internet should include hyperlinks to the original information source. “This is an additional requirement placed on editorial boards, which cannot be applied in the event if the original source is not an Internet source,” the expert says.

The expert recommends addressing the concerns.