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The Belarus government continued systematic persecution of the independent press within the overall context of its fight against dissent in 2025. The pressure on media workers intensified on the eve of Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s election on January 26, 2025 as well as in April 2025, when the few still operating independent regional media outlets suffered from searches and crackdowns in the governmental propaganda channels.
This report introduces the previously unknown Spyware ResidentBat used by the Belarussian secret service KGB. It targets Android phones and is installed through physical device access. Broad application permissions and an accessibility service allow the app access to a wide range of data, spanning phone calls, SMS, encrypted messenger chats and files on the phone.
Journalist and propaganda expert Pavlyuk Bykovsky analyzes the role propaganda plays in the Lukashenko regime and how it has evolved since the mass protests of 2020. Bykovsky’s contribution not only helps to understand the specific principles of the Lukashenko dictatorship, but also sheds light on the general mechanisms of propaganda and disinformation.
Defending trustworthy news means knowing how to counter the propaganda tactics that oppose reliable reporting to further ideological goals. To this end, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published a new report compiling all the content from The Propaganda Monitor, a website dedicated to exposing the way propaganda and disinformation operate so they can be tackled.
The Belarusian-Ukrainian publisher has grown to over 200 employees in 28 countries, fuelled by community features and a new tech platform in its bid to challenge established players. As traditional media business models falter, publishers are searching for new ways to engage audiences and generate revenue. For the sports media network Tribuna, the answer lies in a major technological and global expansion.
EUvsDisinfo has published an article detailing how Lukashenka’s regime continues its harsh retaliation against Belarusians five years after the 2020 protests. The piece highlights ongoing arrests, torture, and exile as part of the government’s efforts to suppress dissent and maintain control.
Last summer, Russian authorities began throttling YouTube playback speeds, rendering the popular video platform practically unusable. This has pushed many Russians to change their media consumption habits. Meduza analyzes the current and potential consequences of the Kremlin’s ongoing campaign against YouTube.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently gave an interview to the Russian magazine Expert about the state of the country’s media following nearly three-and-a-half years of full-scale war. Peskov said that Russia is currently experiencing “a time of wartime censorship — unprecedented for our country.”
This Strategic Vision Paper is an essential guide to understanding the Belarusian media in exile. Despite relentless state terror, Belarusian media in exile continue to reach up to 39% of the audience inside the country. A striking 94% of their audience opposes the war in Ukraine – a powerful testament to the influence of independent journalism.
Alesya Sokolova on how the relatively low popularity of independent media may be influenced not only by censorship but also by the choice of topics and the tone of content. While censorship remains the biggest obstacle, audience fatigue with negativity and a narrow thematic focus may also push even opposition-minded readers away.
The sports outlet «Tribuna» is actively expanding its network of apps and services – cutting-edge not just for Belarus, but for the entire region. Belarusian Association of Journalists spoke with Tribuna’s director, Maksim Berazinski, about how modern technologies are being integrated into their journalistic and editorial work.
As Vladimir Putin’s regime tightens its grip on free speech, the Russian Independent Media Archive (RIMA) is stepping up to preserve endangered journalism. With backing from PEN America and Bard College, RIMA safeguards independent media, ensuring critical journalism outlasts authoritarian attempts to erase it.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, the Russian regime has targeted journalists on the frontlines with deliberate attacks, leading to numerous deaths and injuries among women reporters. This campaign of terror aims to suppress independent reporting and obscure the realities of the conflict.
This report challenges the claims that there is no civil society to speak of inside the Russian Federation and that most of its activists are now in exile. A significant number of independent and democratically oriented initiatives and organizations continue to operate throughout the country to address societal issues through civic engagement. These should be acknowledged.
A new generation of Russian writers in exile is reviving Soviet-era tactics to outsmart Putin’s censorship. Through digital publishing, they’re documenting the war in Ukraine and government repression, reaching thousands back home with uncensored stories Russian authorities try to suppress.
FRF Think Tank presents a policy brief addressing the situation of Russian citizens seeking protection in the EU, set against the backdrop of a severely deteriorating human rights situation in Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
As Russian independent media continues to face severe censorship following the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Independent Media Archive (RIMA) is stepping in to preserve critical journalism for future generations. Co-founded by renowned journalist Masha Gessen and historian Ilia Venyavkin, RIMA aims to protect the work of over 55 independent media outlets from disappearing under the weight of state repression.