Pro-government narratives prevail on Telegram in run-up to election – survey

December 7, Pozirk. Pro-government narratives promoting stability, resisting external threats and discrediting democratic values dominate the Belarusian segment of Telegram in the run-up to the presidential election on January 21-26, Media IQ reported.

The survey is based on analysis of 2,512 posts in 57 most popular pro-government and opposition Telegram channels that covered the upcoming presidential election from October 23 to November 30.

Pro-government channels legitimized Alaksandar Łukašenka’s leadership and disseminated anti-Western and militaristic moods at the initial stages of the electoral cycle, the analysts said.

The survey recorded Belarusian society’s polarization along political and emotional lines, leading to fundamentally different worldviews and the dominance of emotional assessments over rational argumentation.

Media IQ linked this development to the transition from criticizing political ideas to discrediting the personal qualities of opponents and presenting them as morally inferior actors in pro-government channels.

By contrast, opposition Telegram channels appeared less consolidated and competitive, which may be linked to a lack of a coordinated media strategy, limited access to audiences and insufficient funding.

The current presidential campaign in Belarus is taking place in a purged political landscape amid a new wave of crackdown on regime critics. The ongoing politically-motivated reprisals are hampering Łukašenka’s attempts to present the upcoming election as competitive, rights defenders say.

Belarus has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The previous 2020 presidential race was marred by fraud and police brutality against peaceful protesters