Mass Media: Responses to information security challenges

Summary

2018 was a year of responses to the challenges the national media have been facing in recent years. Having learned the lessons of 2017, when many experts recognized that the Belarusian media were losing the competition to foreign outlets and the new media (for example, when covering the West-2017 army exercise and the death of Private Alexander Korzhich), in 2018, the state took some steps to protect its media scene. Firstly, both in the official rhetoric and concrete actions, much attention was paid to the “nationality” of content broadcasted in the country. Secondly, at the legislative level (amendments to the law on the mass media) and in media regulation (the BelTA case), measures were taken to control the new media and the Internet.

In 2018, new approaches to information security were applied, which, among other things, were manifested in a revision of the media financing strategy.

Trends:

• Monitoring of the ‘national affiliation’ of media content;
• Cyberization of the media and mediatization of the cyberspace;
• Creation of conditions for the financial sustainability of media outlets

Monitoring of the “nationality” of media content

The events of 2017 clearly demonstrated to the authorities and the traditional media that the Belarusian media system was facing not potential, but real information threats. Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, protection from Russian media content and Russian propaganda moved up on the agenda not only in Belarus, but also in all countries of the region. Belarusian media experts and the government saw a threat in the overwhelming inflow of Russian media and media content. However, in 2018, this concern did not go beyond official rhetoric and some steps aimed at managing the media system.

The work ethics and professionalism of Russian journalists were criticized by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during his traditional meeting with Russian journalists. “The mass media often become a flash point of conflicts. You must know the responsibility you bear for every word spoken or written. If it destroys the world and ruins people’s lives, it makes the journalist a soldier who is shooting to kill. Sometimes, people call you are a weapon of mass destruction”, he said.1

The official registration of the Ukrainian UATV state television channel in Belarus can be viewed as a response to the dominance of Russian media content in Belarus. Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus Igor Kyzym was the first to speak about this when he took the floor at the expert forum “Belarus-Ukraine: Challenges and Opportunities in the Turbulent Region” held on December 17 in Minsk. According to the ambassador, the main task of UATV is to promote cultural rapprochement of the peoples. Both Belarus and Ukraine state the need to present the position of Ukraine, including on the conflict in the south-eastern regions of the country.

In 2018, measures typical of the Belarusian government were taken to control the “nationality” of media content in the form of repressions against foreign media outlets not accredited in Belarus. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), journalists were fined on more frequent occasions for illegal production and distribution of media products (section 22.9.2 of the Administrative Code2) (Figure 1). The total amount of the fines was over BYN 100,000.

In fact, abstract arguments about the need to protect the national information domain turned into pointing at those guilty of information security breaches. Steps were made to protect the Belarusian media scene, including by presenting points of view on the ongoing conflicts alternative to those broadcasted by the Russian media.

Cyberization of the media and mediatization of the cyberspace

The vulnerability of the information space became apparent. This concerns not only foreign media content. It turned out that the traditional media lose the competition to the new media. In response to this challenge, younger managers took over major national media outlets. In 2017, newly appointed Minister of Information Alexander Karlyukevich immediately announced amendments to the law on the mass media, which primarily concerns the regulation of online communication. The amendments entered into force on December 1, 2018. The major innovations include:

• a possibility for online outlets to obtain official registration and the status of mass media, and become liable as such;
• the obligation of online periodicals to identify commentators.

The expansion of the media regulation to the Internet (cyberization) is meant to increase the manageability and transparency of the Internet and demonstrates the government’s awareness of the increasing role of the new media.

On the other hand, there is cyberization of the media, i. e. the expansion of new “digital rhetoric” and media control methods. In recent years, cybersecurity has become an important component of the efforts made to enhance national security and a usual point on the government’s agenda. In October 2018, Minsk hosted the International High-Level Conference “Preventing and Countering Terrorism in the Digital Age” held under the auspices of the OSCE. However, as 2018 showed, cybersecurity methods can negatively affect the functioning of the media, because it leads to tighter state control and oppression of the independent media.

The so-called “BelTA case” was a high-profile example of this new strategy. In August, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against 15 journalists under section 349.2 of the Criminal Code (unauthorized access to computer information) for accessing information of BelTA state news agency, which was only available on paid subscription. The police conducted searches and arrested office equipment and data carriers. By the end of the year, 14 journalists were discharged from liability after paying fines and damages. Proceedings against Tut.by Editor-in-Chief Marina Zolotovs continued.

The case stirred up the media community, human rights defenders and international organizations, primarily because of the inadequacy of the punitive measures applied. It is safe to assume that the goal was to establish control over the independent media, rather than to protect commercial interests of BelTA.

In general, multidirectional cyberization of the media and mediatization of the cyberspace meet the present-day challenges. According to Gemius Audience, the number of Internet users in Belarus reached 5.1 million people.3 For quite a while, despite the growing popularity of the Internet, television remained the main source of information. It began to lose this status in 2017–2018.4 In 2018, the proportion of those for whom TV was a source of information (72.0%) almost equaled the proportion of those who received it from the Internet (60.4%) (Figure 2).

TV Press Radio Internet

The competition is much freer on the Internet than in the traditional media, which, on the one hand, allows users to choose independent sources of information, but, on the other hand, makes the audience vulnerable to misinformation, including from external sources. According to Gemius Audience, the monthly online audience of Russian TV channels is about 500,000 people, whereas Tut.by national portal ranks 6^th on the list of the most popular media resources, being below Russian mail.ru5 (Figure 3).

The complementary processes of interpenetration of the media and the cyberspace are a general modern trend. However, the aspiration to control the media applying repressive methods jeopardizes national independent Internet resources, which poses a threat to national information security.

Conditions for improving the financial sustainability of the media

In 2018, the economic recovery continued. This contributed to advertising market growth, which totaled USD 99 million in 2018,6 an increase of 15% from 2017 (experts predicted a 21% increase).

The volume of online advertising also increased, which is traditional, and occurs, among other things, through a redistribution of advertising budgets and volumes in the traditional information channels, and indicates economic stabilization. Online advertising grew by 24%, TV advertising by 9%, outdoor advertising by 10% and radio advertising by 25%. Advertising in the press remained at the level of 2017 (Figure 5).

TV Press Outdoor advertising Radio Internet

Alongside the improving financial sustainability of the media thanks to the advertising market, the national budget for 2019 provides for a significant increase in the funding of the state-owned media. According to the Ministry of Finance cited by BAJ experts in their report,7 in 2019, government spending on the media will increase 30% after a significant cut in 2016 (Fig.6).

The reduction in spending on the media in 2016 was a result of targeted state policy to improve their efficiency after media holdings with a common management system replaced some state media outlets. The upcoming significant increase in spending shows that the government takes the current situation very seriously and is strongly committed to protect the information segment.

Conclusion

In 2018, government’s efforts to regulate the mass media showed that it is aware of the challenges the Belarusian media have been facing in recent years. Measures taken to control the national media scene are aimed at protection from external influence, increased accountability of the new media, and stronger financial sustainability of the state-owned media (contrary to our forecast made in 2017).

Next year, new strategic steps are likely to be made to ensure information security. The authorities will continue repressive measures to control and impose restrictions on the independent media, including by means of the law on the mass media and other regulations.

Additional funding of the state media can help improve the quality and diversity of national content. However, this involves higher risks for the independent media, whose financial situation is not stable. Nevertheless, growth of the advertising market will enable the independent media to rely less on external funding.