Lukashenko's customised version of Internet

Author: Mikhail Doroshevich

30/08/2007

Internet-community "Third Way" prepared a birthday present for Belarusian acting president A. Lukashenko - the most advanced version of the Internet - LuNet. The event, "Give Lukashenko his Lunet", that has started today, is intended to show how dangerous and absurd are Lukashenka's demands of control over the Internet in Belarus. Lunet consists of Lundex search engine, LuTube video service, LuJournal blog service and the most "honest" portal tut.lu.

"Internet surveillance may concern millions of Belarusians. That's why we consider it very important and timely to attract Belarusian and foreign media, politicians, and community's attention to the issue. We can't allow the last bastion of freedom in Belarus to fall. It's time to show that even in virtual world we can demonstrate real solidarity. We mustn't allow Belarus to turn into internet-hostile China!" - said one of the action initiators Pavel Morozov.

According to him, a well known Belarusian politician and dissident, "the father of independent Belarusian state" Zyanon Pozniak, academic Voitovich, sculptor Ales Shaternik, analytical project "Our Opinion", informational agency "Belapan", office "For democratic Belarus" in Brussels and more than 50 bynet sites as well as many Belarusian citizens' initiatives have supported the event (full list of supporters will be published on www.fromlu.net).

In the beginning of August, 2007, while visiting "Soviet Belarus" newspaper's office, Alexander Lukashenko said that "We should stop anarchy in the internet". He said "Belarusian state presence in the internet is petty.

There is no government-owned site with auditory of more that 5.000 users".

He complained, "If you read what they publish, you'll see that we have a lot of opposition - no, not even opposition, hostile states and voices. Our opposition is their megaphone, that's a fact". Belarusian TV followed Lukashenko and showed a propaganda film discrediting free internet, and also soviet-propaganda style film "Net Wars".

Useful links:

LuNet
Services:
http://fromlu.net/lundex/
http://fromlu.net/lujournal/
http://fromlu.net/tutlu/
http://fromlu.net/lutube/

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