YouTube remains a leading source of news and other information among the Belarusian internet audience. Therefore, monitoring YouTube trends in Belarus is crucial to understanding what socio-political information reaches the audience through this communication channel.
As a result of the analysis for January 2025, only 9 videos were found that directly related to Belarusian topics.
This graph shows the dynamics of view count changes for videos that appeared in Belarusian YouTube Trends:
Our brief analysis is as follows.
- Thematic distribution:
- Most videos focus on the political situation in Belarus
- Key topics:
- Government and opposition (“He is not Batka”, “Coup in Belarus?”)
- Elections (“Election disruption”, “Emergency election rescheduling”)
- Border conflicts (“Incident with a Polish soldier”)
- Official speeches (“New Year’s address”, “Lukashenko in the metro”)
- Propaganda (“GRIGORY AZARYONOK – the main propagandist of Belarus”)
- View dynamics:
- There were peaks of activity in early January (around January 5) and at the end of the month (after January 25)
- Videos about potential political changes attract the most attention
- Official speeches and statements also receive a significant number of views
- Content sources:
- Various types of media are represented:
- Opposition channels (Nexta)
- State media (ONT, CTVBY)
- Independent investigations (“Navalny LIVE”)
- Nature of coverage:
- Content polarization is evident: from critical investigations to state propaganda
- Significant attention is paid to conflict and crisis situations
- Both informational and analytical materials are present
Trends:
- Belarusian topics are unevenly present in YouTube trends
- Topics related to potential political changes generate the most interest
- Videos from state media coexist with alternative viewpoints
- YouTube is actively used as a platform for political communication by various sides.
Interestingly, from January 22, 2025, to the present, a video featuring a statement by the new U.S. President Donald Trump has been trending in Belarusian YouTube, asserting that there are only two genders – male and female.
The data was collected using tools provided by Oxylabs as part of Project 4β.
