Hackers and anonyms proliferate ahead of local elections
For several recent weeks, the monitoring service of BAJ has registered an increasing wave of provocations aimed at independent media resources.
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On March 21, the editor Kastus’ Mardzvintsau informed that his website dyjalog.info was damaged by a virus. The website did not open, “an error” notice appeared. The editor is sure that it was done on purpose. The last materials published on the website, which covers Vitebsk region news, dealt with the electoral campaign; there was also an article about food poisoning among prisoners of Orsha colony.
Also, the website of Vitebskij Courier stopped functioning. However, it had been updated pretty seldom, so no one can say exactly what’s happened and when.
Some independent journalists in Vitebsk received photos aimed to discredit the opposition candidate to local deputies Krystaphon Zhaliapau.
On March 14 in Mahilou hackers published articles on the website Svabodny Farmat which discredited and insulted local civil and political activists.
The local journalist Aliaksandr Burakou said that a big number of people had received provocative letters from his name from a strange electronic address a.burakov74@gmail.com which does not belong to him.
Also in March in Babruysk two women candidates to local deputies from “Tell the Truth!" campaign received threat and insult letters as if from the journalist of Bobruyskij Courier Maryna Malchanava. The journalist said that the e-mail address does not belong to her, either. Soon the journalist also received an anonymous e-mail letter with threats.
At the beginning of March, non-state mass media in Minsk received false information as if the communist party of Belarus “Spraviadlivy Svet” had made a statement on the situation in Ukraine. The party leaders said it was not true and they had no relation to the statement.
(On March 23 elections of local deputies were held in Belarus.)
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