In late May 2024, the network broke the news that Belarus would be creating its own media platform. It's a YouTube analogue, but only for the media controlled by Lukashenko's regime.
Irina Akulovich, Director General of the propaganda agency BelTA, stated this on air on the TV channel Belarus 1. She stated that the order to create the media platform came directly from Lukashenko.
At the end of 2023, the Cyberpartisans infiltrated the internal network of the BelTA. This gave us access to internal documents that shed light on the first stages of the project.
How propagandists will find a way to bypass the blocking of their videos for inaccurate information and propaganda of violence? How much is the Lukashenko regime willing to spend on this? What well-known IT companies negotiated about the development of the portal for propaganda? Are they preparing to block Youtube in Belarus and what to do if this threat becomes a reality? Read the article or watch the video at the link below.
Why Does the Dictator Need His Own YouTube?
On Lukashenko's order, BelTA news agency engaged in the project of the Belarusian video service from the beginning of 2023. It will initially feature content from the republican TV channels, Sovetskaya Belorussia and BelTA itself. Then engage the regional media supporting the dictator.
You see an internal document that describes the concept of creating such an Internet resource. Its authors argue that the publication of video content on YouTube makes the state-owned Belarusian media segment vulnerable. Materials of the dictatorship-controlled media are regularly blocked and deleted on international Internet resources. Therefore, it is necessary to create your own resource where materials are stored permanently and always available.
Over the last few years, YouTube and Facebook have blocked many channels and accounts that openly support the Putin and Lukashenko regimes. Thus, in the 21st year, YouTube blocked the video with the speech of the Belarusian dictator on Victory Square on 9 May. In the 22nd year, the so-called channel of the Union State 'BelRos', which received warnings from the administration for spreading false information and propaganda of violence, was blocked.
Of course, on the dictator's own media portal, there will be no such moderation. According to the developed concept, what and when to publish is decided by BelTA employees themselves, while the representatives of TV channels have to coordinate their plans with them.
How Many Viewers Does Propaganda Expect?
As for the popularity of the portal, which will host all the main state media, in the first year, they expect a maximum of 3 000 simultaneous visitors. And in the second year, they expect no more than 20 000 simultaneous connections and up to 50 000 during socially significant events.
As we learned from the working correspondence of BelTA employees, in the first stages of the project discussion, the name of the state-owned video hosting was proposed in Belarusian. However, according to BelTA Director General Irina Akulovich, it has a bad effect on search queries. Perhaps that's why they agreed on the working name ‘Video.bel’.
Which IT Companies in Belta Considered Entrusting the Development of Video Hosting?
To implement the technical part of the project, it was planned to attract one of the provider companies, which should provide its infrastructure and basic software, and then deal with the maintenance and security of video hosting.
To find such a provider, in the second half of the 23rd year, BelTA employees began to send requests to many relevant organisations in Belarus and Russia.
Thus, the companies Softec Lab’, ‘Telebreeze’, ‘Ontide Soft’, and ‘Studio Infolio’ were particularly interested in the project. Their representatives sent commercial proposals for the implementation of the media service based on their capabilities.
At the same time, BelTA management actively negotiated cooperation on the project with two companies: InDev Solutions OJSC and A1 provider. On the screen, you can see the roadmap for August 2023, developed by InDev Solutions team, which outlines BelTA's work with these two organisations in stages.
The full document:
‘InDev Solutions' is an IT Company under the Control of the OAC
'InDev Solutions' was only recently registered in December 2022. However, in the first few months after its launch, it started cooperating with the country's leading universities and the Ministry of Health, as well as becoming a resident of the High Technology Park.
The explanation for such rapid success and high trust of the state authorities is not difficult to find. The director of InDev Solutions is Oleg Belyakov, a former employee of the Operational and Analytical Centre, abbreviated as OAC.
He is also a member of the working group for the formation and implementation of the State Programme ‘Digital Development of Belarus’ as a representative of the OAC.
Moreover, according to the legal address on the InDev Solutions website, the company is located in the same building as the ‘National Traffic Exchange Centre’ under the management of the OAC.
Sergey Sudakov, a former employee of the OAC, holds the position of Deputy Director General for Information Technologies at InDev Solutions. The company's leading legal adviser is Yulia Brizinskaya, who also has a decent track record. Previously, Brizinskaya worked in the Interior Ministry, KGB, as a legal adviser to the military information agency ‘Vayar’ of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, as well as in the OAC-affiliated company BeCloud.
By the way, since late 2023, Becloud owns a controlling stake in InDev Solutions. So the company in fact is managed by the OAC.
Negotiations with A1
The roadmap for the development of video hosting for the republican TV channels also includes the Belarusian subsidiary of the Austrian provider A1.
According to the working correspondence of BelTA employees, negotiations on the joint implementation of the project have been held since the early summer of 2023. Namely with the deputy director general for digital platforms and content of A1 Anton Bladik (he has now resigned from this position), who, by the way, previously worked as a chief specialist in the state military-industrial committee of the Republic of Belarus.
According to an internal BelTA document, which you can see on the screen, specific costs and plans were even discussed. Thus, the launch and maintenance of the video hosting for a year was estimated by the representatives of ‘A1’ at 600-700 thousand US dollars, if we take a ready-made solution based on the software ‘Voka’.
The full document:
However, the costs were already significantly adjusted upwards after a month of discussions. BelTA employees estimated the amount needed to launch and operate the media platform in the first year at about $1.5-2 million, and the annual costs starting from the second year of operation at about $1 million. You can see below one of the variants of such calculation.
The full document:
At that time, in November 2023, negotiations with A1 on the development of a Belarusian video service were so close that they directly discussed bypassing open tender procedures. You can see below a retelling of the negotiations with A1 in the working chat of BelTA employees. According to this message, both sides are dissatisfied with the fact that any participant can formally win the open tender and get the state order. The representatives of A1 offered their options to bypass these procedures.
Judging by the data from the site of public procurement, in February and March 2024 BelTA attempted to hold open tenders for video broadcasting services.
Based on the data on the same portal, it is not difficult to establish that the company ‘A1’ participated in tenders. The well-known provider was competing with Mediatek Ltd, whose bid was rejected by the procurement commission.
Since this summer BelTA Director General Irina Akulovich confidently promised that the state video portal would start working at the end of August, we can assume that the contractor for the project has been found after all.
Are They Preparing to Switch off Youtube in Belarus?
At this time, we are not aware of any documents or plans that would support this. But we cannot completely deny this possibility. Belarusians have already faced problems with loading the service on New Year's Eve. We would like to remind you that at that time Youtube did not load for 20 minutes in Belarus.
The easiest way to fight such restrictions is to use VPN services. Among other things, modern technologies allow you to bypass even the blocking of VPNs themselves.
According to our assessment, the development of a separate video resource for Lukashenka's propagandists is mainly aimed at avoiding blocking of their content. But whether Belarusians will use such a site en masse is doubtful.
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