Many older Belarusians may still get their news from state media, but younger generations have turned to social media and independent sites that are far from loyal, let alone fawning, when it comes to authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Dozens of activists gathered outside the Lefortovo prison in Moscow on July 13 to support former journalist Ivan Safronov, who was detained on high-treason charges on July 7. Police detained at least 10 activists, all of whom work in the media, during the demonstration.
Desperate relatives are waiting in line for hours for an overwhelmed Kazakh morgue to release the bodies of their loved ones, raising questions about the country's COVID-19 data. Official statistics show hundreds of deaths related to COVID-19 and more than 1,000 dead from "pneumonia." But Chinese news reports about a form of pneumonia in Kazakhstan that is deadlier than the coronavirus have been dismissed by the Kazakh Health Ministry as "fake news."
A former Russian journalist who has been arrested on treason charges is alleged to have handed secrets to the United States via the Czech intelligence service, according to his lawyer. Ivan Safronov was detained on July 7.
Russian journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva says she will appeal after a court found her guilty of "justifying terrorism" and ordered her to pay a fine of 500,000 rubles (about $7,000). The court in the western Russian city of Pskov announced its verdict on July 6 in a case that has drawn condemnation from human rights groups. The charges related to a 2018 article Prokopyeva wrote linking a suicide bombing to Russia's political climate.
Kremlin-friendly Russian media is telling viewers that unrest in the U.S. over the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd amounts to “anarchy” reminiscent of the movie Joker, fueled by everything from COVID-19 to trade wars. Yet these outlets overlook how Russia itself has recently responded to protests over civil rights.
As Russia's coronavirus cases skyrocket, journalists for independent media outlets charge that Russian prosecutors are using anti-fake-news regulations to target reporting critical of the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How Ukraine's Facebook fact-checkers tackle the deluge of fake information about the COVID-19 pandemic
After blocking nine Russian TV channels last November, Latvia is now considering further steps to push back against suspected propaganda from Russian broadcast outlets. In mid-February, Latvian President Egils Levits proposed media-law amendments that would require all TV providers restrict programming in non-European Union languages to 20 percent of their total broadcasts. But one Russia-friendly local TV station is fighting back.
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