Belarusian security forces threaten Threads users with criminal liability

Belarusians have started being threatened with administrative and criminal liability for posts in the social network Threads. On the evening of 27 September, the state TV channel STМ aired a segment in which the social network was called a security threat.

"We have repeatedly discussed and talked about Threads in one of your programmes. At this point, it is truly a security threat. Why? Because many people do not understand this social network at all," said Natallya Sakharchuk, head of the information and public relations department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to her, the most active users of the network are people aged 30 to 40. They allegedly want to be on trend, which is why they actively post critical content.

"Everyone has understood one thing perfectly well — that it is enough to write some message in Threads... For example, I didn't like the products on the shelf, or I didn't like the way a traffic police officer looked at me, or I didn't like how someone walked past and did something in relation to me," the Ministry of Internal Affairs representative said indignantly.

She stated that social network users must be held accountable for their words. The police are actively monitoring social networks, and some users have already been subjected to administrative liability. Sakharchuk warned that the liability could also be criminal: "Because you need to think carefully about what you post on any social network, as the consequences will not be long in coming."

Previously, it was videos on TikTok that attracted particular police attention.