Latvia’s National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) has decided to impose a complete ban on the distribution of the Belarusian radio station Radio Belarus within the country.
The ban covers absolutely all forms of broadcasting, including online streaming, Delfi reports.
Latvia’s regulator took the decision on the basis of information from the relevant state institutions. The investigation found that the station disseminates one-sided and biased information about Russia’s war against Ukraine, justifies Russian aggression and covers events in support of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
Radio Belarus is subordinate to the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company, which is already under European Union sanctions for supporting the Minsk regime and for its involvement in the war against Ukraine. As EU sanctions apply to the radio station, Latvia is obliged to restrict its activities on its territory.
The restrictions will remain in force for as long as the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company stays on the sanctions list. In addition, in early September the NEPLP had already blocked access to the station’s official website.
- The Baltic states have also repeatedly imposed bans on Russian media outlets that broadcast hostile propaganda. For example, in 2023 Estonia blocked a further 53 websites that allowed viewers to watch Russian TV channels. At the time, to protect the information space and ensure compliance with sanctions, the country restricted access to 195 websites and 51 TV channels.
- Latvia has banned broadcasts by Russia Today and seven of its language versions, Rossiya RTR and Dozhd.