Following up on our previous post “What could Belarusians discuss about the elections on Facebook in August-September 2023?”, we will attempt to analyze what was published on this social network in October 2023.
In terms of mentions, three main sources showed growth compared to previous months:
The total number of mentions for the month increased to 17,570 in October. In August, there were 15,264, and in September 2023, there were 13,823. However, the engagement of these mentions on the topic of “elections” decreased to 2.5 million in October 2023 compared to 2.8 million in August 2023.
What was happening on Facebook?
The number of posts related to the topic of “elections” increased to 135 in October. There were 83 posts in August and 63 posts in September. The number of interactions (likes, comments, shares) remains minimal. Posts made in October gathered only 1,357 interactions. Such results can be explained by the ongoing repression of the current Belarusian regime against the display of basic social empathy by Belarusian internet users on social media. As with any restrictive actions, this also affects publications made by Belarusian media controlled by the authorities.
Posts that gathered the most interactions:
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Among the posts that gathered fewer interactions, an interesting post from the Belarus 24 channel:
Such eloquent wording – “The wind of change is already wandering the streets of Poland.”
Publications about the elections were on 31 pages related to Belarus. The most publications on the election topic were on the page of the private-state TV Channel ONT – 31.
NB: Number of interactions – 3 (three)! As political analysts commented on such statements: Lukashenko still hopes for dialogue with the West. But — on his terms.
Most of the disinformation was published on the pages of ATN: News of Belarus and the World, Belarus 1, TV Channel ONT. Just look at the headlines of the posts.
ATN: News of Belarus and the World:
The two most “juicy” posts:
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Belarus 1:
It’s worth noting that these are pages representing the state television of the Republic of Belarus. It can be confidently said that these TV channels are also sources of unreliable information for the Belarusian television audience.
So what about the elections planned by the Belarusian authorities in 2024?
The most precise answer, without any reaction from more than 100,000 who like this page:
In early October, there were several publications mentioning Natalia Kochanova:
This served as the reason for several publications, both in media with state ownership and independent ones.
Also, about the upcoming Belarusian “elections”, Oleg Gaidukevich, representing the registered(!) Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus, speculated:
Conclusions can be drawn:
Most of the publications about the elections in October 2023 on Belarusian pages on Facebook were related to the past elections in Poland. In many publications of state media, disinformation was recorded. A couple of publications about the elections in Argentina and possible elections in Ukraine.
The elections in Belarus in 2024 have not yet become the main topic, primarily in pro-government media.
Publication prepared by the Baltic Internet Policy Initiative
