Belarus launches videobel to counter YouTube sanctions, experts skeptical
They weren't wanted on YouTube, so they created their own YouTube. Belarus, in response to the sanctions imposed by the portal, launched its own platform – videobel.by. The idea came from Alexander Lukashenko himself. It took only a year to create the platform.
Experts believe this platform is unlikely to replace YouTube's global dominance in the Belarusian market, even if the American service is blocked.
According to the Polish Press Agency, the problems Belarusian media faced on YouTube prompted the creation of videobel.by. Last year, content produced by the Belarusian propaganda apparatus was blocked by the American video platform, resulting in Lukashenko's Victory Day speech being blocked and unavailable to users.
According to information provided by BelTA during the presentation, the aim of creating videobel.by is to centralise socio-political content from leading Belarusian media. The service aims to offer not only online streams of TV channels but also live broadcasts of important events involving President Lukashenko. This initiative is meant to provide access to these materials to audiences worldwide.
The problem is that it exclusively involves Belarusian propaganda media, which means videobel.by will serve its audience not what they are looking for, but what they want them to watch.
Millions of pounds for Belarusian propaganda's online mouthpiece
Information about the costs and details of the project leaked to the public thanks to the actions of the hacker group "Cyber Partisans," who hacked into BelTA's network in October of last year.
As revealed, the initial cost estimate to create the platform was between £460,000 and £540,000, but this quickly rose to £1,200,000 to £1,540,000. It was also projected that the annual maintenance costs of the service would be £770,000 after the second year of operation.
Despite positive reports from Belarusian state media, which on the day of the service's launch declared its success, specialists are sceptical about its ability to oust YouTube from the Belarusian market. According to Mikhail Klimarov, director of the Russian organisation Internet Protection Association, the only real reason for Belarusians to migrate to videobel.by would be the blocking of access to Western internet platforms. Klimarov, however, assumes that people would likely choose to use VPNs rather than limit themselves to the content presented by Belarusian television and the new video platform.
A similar situation is being observed in Russia, where a national equivalent of YouTube called Platforma also appeared. Despite attempts to limit access to Google's services in Russia, such as by slowing down the loading of materials by 70 per cent, the complete blocking of YouTube in Russia is not currently planned.
