Dictator vs Digital Force
On the 9 August, 2020 it was announced that Alexander Lukashenko would commence his 26th year in presidency after gaining 80% of the votes. Even to the untrained eye, this was not a surprising outcome, especially after witnessing how brutal and dirty Lukashenko’s election campaign had become, where the most competitive, of the opponents were arrested or forced to leave the country for the safety of their own families. Through the rigged elections the people of Belarus witnessed their freedom of choice, their role in society, and their future dragged away by the government in plain sight. The lack of shame or guilt expressed by those at the top of the political hierarchy, led to a tsunami of discontent from the people of Belarus. Immediately, waves of Belarusians swept the streets of cities like Minsk and Vitebsk screaming for change, justice, and democracy which are ongoing to this day. Observing this unity of people, their heroism, and their determination has been euphoric.
Personally, as a Slav, I notice that the Slavic nations have a tendency to sometimes remain silent, even if they do not agree with the situation. Their hesitance can be easily explained as a survival mechanism of the past generations during the Soviet era, where staying silent kept you out of trouble, and this belief has passed on through the years. This mentality has been changing in the past few years and Belarus will now hopefully become one of the examples in Eastern European history of people finally taking a breath of freedom from toxic regimes! Yet, the cruel, barbaric, and irrational response of the Lukashenko government towards the protesters such as police brutality with clear evidence of torturing , censorship and even Lukashenko himself exiting a helicopter with an AK-47 (yes you read that correctly) emphasises that the government believed in this mentality of silence and as a consequence was completely unprepared for such an uproar of opposition. Despite the questionable survival tactics that have been applied by the government to protect itself, the people of Belarus continue to remain an undefeatable force. What, may you ask, is one of the strongest weapons, which has been greatly used by the opposition in maintaining its perseverance? The answer would point to social media, in particular the instant messaging app Telegram.
Telegram is an app which has existed since 2013 and is well known for being resistant to censorship, hacking, and blocking due to end-to-end encrypted chat (in human language this means it is very difficult for a third party to actually gain access to the information shared between senders).Within the Telegram app, there can be found millions of channels on various topics. Yet, when focusing on Belarus, during the month of August an existing Belarusian channel under the name of NEXTA Live (or “Somebody” in the English translation) rose to popularity for providing accurate insight on the events in Belarus, and most importantly proved to be successful in coordinating protests. When subscribing to the channel, the individual immediately becomes the informant: they shape the conversation as they have the freedom to post a video, message, or photo to outline an event or issue which should be dealt with as long as they provide the date, time, and location. This is very efficient as the rest of the viewers are able to observe a clearer picture of the events in real time, and provides them with the opportunity to take actions that are rational, efficient and specific.
At the moment of writing this, there are now over two million subscribers on this channel and this number continues to grow every hour. However, you cannot point out the leader of this crowd, the character who carries the megaphone. Instead, we witness a force of individuals where their unity acts as the source of power. NEXTA Live acts as a Coliseum where these single entities can join together to withstand the unconventional tactics enforced by the Lukashenko government such as the censorship of around 72 news sites and deliberate disruption of the internet as an attempt to slow down the spread of information and thus the actions of the protestors. During the internet blackout, Telegram remained one of the only platforms to be least affected by these disruptions and became the only source of clear information of the ongoing situation. Sometimes it is difficult to believe the reality we are facing, but it is astoundingly fascinating in witnessing how a government can be so quickly destabilised, especially by a virtual force after such a long period of dictatorship and monotony. The mask has come off and we now witness the ‘Lukashenko castle’ has been built on quicksand this whole time.
What can we learn from this? The government’s resistance to listen to its own people as evident through the weak attempts of silencing the crowds accentuates the extent of how much understanding the government lacks when it comes to knowing its own people: the main characters in society. The geographical location is not the only qualifier of a country, but it is also the people. A country comes alive through the people, as they are the ones who build the culture, create a language, develop traditions. The hostility of the Lukashenko government with which Belarusians are faced with, underlines the disrespect the government has for its own people. Yet, when a government does not respect its own people, then it doesn’t respect its own country, so why does the government deserve to lead?
To the people of Belarus- Верам,можам,пераможам*!
*Believe, we shall overcome.
