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Monday, April 23, 2018

Little Green Trolls?

Is Belarus only cracking down on internal dissent by regulating online commenters?

That's interesting:

The parliament in Belarus has passed a measure prohibiting internet users from commenting on forums without authorization and requiring online publications to register with the government as mass media.

The law passed on Thursday was harshly criticized by the Belarusian Association of Journalists, which called it a further "tightening of the screws" in the country.

How far does regulating comments go? Is it just on publications online or is it broader for any online forum?

And while the authoritarian Belarus certainly restricts freedom, and tightening the screws on dissent is no shock; is this measure directed more at blocking Russian online trolls who might simulate a popular cry inside Belarus for Russian "help" to justify a Russian Anschluss with Belarus in support of armed "little green men?"

I only ask because Belarus might be the most important territory in Europe today.