Since 6 January the penalty may be imposed on the Internet providers for violation of the requirements for limiting users’ access to internet services, which contain the information, prohibited for distribution. Obligatory Internet filtering was introduced only for educational institutions and state agencies, except for power-wielding structures. For all others the Internet access can be limited only at request of the user. The fine for violation of the requirements to limit Internet access can range from 10 to 30 basic units.
A penalty of 5 to 15 base units will be charged from operators of data transmission responsible for collective Internet services (computer clubs, Internet cafes, etc.) for violation of the rules of user identification, recording and storing users’ data.
The fine may be imposed on individual entrepreneurs and legal persons who are selling goods or providing services using Internet resources located outside Belarus. A legal entity may be also brought to administrative liability for using the Internet resource, that has not passed state registration, for commercial purposes. In case of violation of these requirements, a fine from 10 to 30 base units may be imposed.
According to the lawyer Siarhei Balykin (left), such changes would complicate the work of those businesses that are somehow related to the Internet: "There used to be the requirements, but there was no responsibility for their non-compliance.Now there will be. This curtails the freedom of the Internet business. There are a number of sites in my company, and I have them allocated in the host "Beltelecom". I need to fill in extra papers. It’s not as difficult as it is awkward. If I want to register a domain, then I need to get the permission. You will not die from this, but it doesn’t improve your life. I can not use the services of foreign hosts, and domains .com and .org became more expensive in Belarus. While domains .by have become cheaper. The decree itself is meaningless. If the goal was to take down the opposition Web sites, it is impossible. "
The employees of state enterprises will be isolated from "unreliable" sites first of all.
The decree provides the restriction of access to certain sites, primarily for employees of state enterprises and organizations. On 7 April, 2010 the Belarusian Internet service providers received an updated list of banned Internet resources. This list now includes a number of prominent opposition online editions. In accordance with decree №60, providers must block access to sites from the list for state agencies and organizations, as well as institutions of education and culture. Later, the Prosecutor General of Belarus has decided to restrict access to the site prokopovi.ch, used by Belarusians to negotiate private currency exchange. The exact list of banned sites has not been published yet. Mostly the black list includes pornographic websites. The access to such sites is strictly prohibited in state agencies and institutions of education and culture
However, according to Andrei Bastunets (right), the lawyer of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the new law which comes into force on 6 January, does not bring any new restrictions, except for "a little responsibility" for violations under decree number 60."First of all it deals with providers, and establishes responsibility for them.For those who need to set these restrictions, primarily for state agencies and institutions. Although of course it is known how the law in Belarus is kept and that there may be kinks on local level. The restrictions of political and socio-political websites are undemocratic, and this should not be acceptable in our country. "
The offenders can be punished by state security and internal affairs bodies, the State Control Committee and tax structures.
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According to the report of Freedom House on freedom of Internet use in 2009-2010 in 37 countries ("Freedom on the Net 2011"), Belarus is among the 11 countries where Internet use is defined as restricted. A detailed report on the situation of internet services in Belarus, stated that approximately 27% of the population uses the Internet. According to the report, Belarus is among those countries where censorship on political and social issues on the Internet is introduced and blocking of unfavourable to the government sites happened. In Belarus, opposition websites are subject to frequent cyberattacks. Centralized state control over the country’s connection to the international Internet traffic also allows the Belarusian authorities to limit access to undesirable internet resources. Freedom House conducted classification of internet freedom status using 100-point scale, taking into account three parameters: the obstacles to access (0-25 points), restrictions on the content (0-35 points), violations of user rights (0-40 points). Belarus scored 69 points and was on the 29th place among 37 countries surveyed.
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