"For them, doctors are not the main thing. The main thing is to gain hype" - Lukashenko on fake news on the internet

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko notes the increased activity of various fake information channels. He stated this today at a meeting in Minsk on current socio-economic and political issues, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

"I have noticed that in the so-called fake channels, Telegram channels and others, they have recently been latching onto the authorities for anything. They can blow up a scandal about non-payments in a specific organization - doctors, teachers, and so on. Yesterday, I asked Natalya Ivanovna (Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova. - BELTA note) to call all the governors and simply warn them in a human way: if there is any problem, it must be resolved on the spot."

The Head of State gave a specific example in this regard: "What about that ambulance service in Babruisk... If they are really working and are involved in these epidemic processes, then people must be supported. It's pennies for the country. But, on the other hand, we must understand that we cannot put those who perform 'clean' and 'dirty' work on equal footing. Otherwise, we will offend those who are currently working in the red zone and dealing with coronavirus-infected patients."

"Therefore, there should be no leveling. But the line is almost imperceptible," added Alexander Lukashenko.

The Head of State stressed that the authors of fakes are not at all concerned about doctors, for example, but only seek to gain hype. "These doctors are not important to them. The main thing is to gain hype. They want to catch some hype from this. This is not our way. But, we must be patient. We will deal with them. I told you yesterday: the time will come, and we will put everyone in their place," the President stated.

Alexander Lukashenko noted at the same time that no one should be silenced, and people should say what they think. "And a journalist, if he is a journalist, a blogger or someone else, should write honestly, present information objectively, and not stir up scandal. If it is not honest, if it does not correspond to reality, one must answer for it. As it was with Russia's Channel One," the Head of State emphasized.

The President added that now in Russia itself, there are international demands for a foreign Western publication to apologise for falsifications concerning the coronavirus. "So why did Russian channels do this here?" Alexander Lukashenko posed a rhetorical question.

"And I support the Russians on this – no one has the right to play around with this topic. These are people's lives. Here I am with the Russians, but I say immediately: you too should behave responsibly towards other countries," the Belarusian leader stressed.

He once again urged patience in this situation, as the main thing is saving people's lives. "We must go through this path as we started it. And then people will figure out who is right and who is wrong. Everyone in Belarus has already been vaccinated and has developed immunity to these scoundrels (authors of fakes. - BELTA's note). Yes, they (people. - BELTA's note) read it, but they assess it correctly. And those who assess it incorrectly, they want to assess it incorrectly. We are unlikely to re-educate them and turn them to the path of truth," the head of state believes. "This is a certain segment of people. They hated and hate Lukashenko, they believe that more problems should be thrown at him so that he stumbles and falls. We have seen this and are seeing it now. One should be calmer about this and simply tell people the facts."