Nexta ( niekh-ta) is a media outlet that is primarily distributed through Telegram and YouTube channels. The YouTube channel was founded by then 17-year-old student Stsiapan Putsila. The channel's headquarters are located in Warsaw, Poland, after its founder went into exile.
It became the biggest Telegram channel in Belarus as the primary source of news covering events that followed the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. The Telegram channel mostly featured short videos and images submitted by users taken during the rallies, while longer original videos are shared on YouTube. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Nexta became an operational resource reporting on the events of the war. Nexta operates one of the largest Telegram news channels in the Russian-speaking world, with almost one million subscribers. According to a statistic of the media project "Information Policy" from July 2024, NEXTA Live is the second-largest Belarusian YouTube channel by number of views. According to the statistics of the channel "YouTube of Belarus", NEXTA Live is the largest independent Belarusian YouTube channel, if one does not take into account the state-owned media channels. YouTube of Belarus
Nexta faces pressure from Belarusian authorities. Since October 2020, Nexta and its logo are considered extremist content in Belarus. Its founder Stsiapan Putsila and the former editor-in-chief Roman Protasevich were put by Belarusian authorities on a list of "individuals involved in terrorist activity" in November 2020. Amnesty International stated that the classification of the bloggers as terrorists was "arbitrary" and that the Belarusian authorities' decision was based solely on Putsila's and Protasevich's journalism. Since October 2021, NEXTA, NEXTA Live and Luxta are also classified as extremist groups. In April 2022, they were declared a terrorist organization by the Supreme Court of Belarus.
Among the former members of the editorial board are:
In Autumn 2018 Putsila launched the Nexta Live Telegram channel. On the very first day more than 2000 subscribers from YouTube joined it.
In 2018 Putsila was charged with ‘offending the president’. His mother's apartment was searched by the law enforcement.
In 2019 Roman Protasevich joined Nexta, the team grew to four men. The channel mostly used user-generated content, sometimes it was sent anonymously even from the police officers. As stated by the founders, Nexta survived on selling ads.
On 12 November, the Minsk District Court ordered that a rebuttal should be posted in the Telegram channel Nexta and sentenced Putsila to a fine of . The blogger said that he would not execute the court's decision, questioning the independence of the Belarusian courts.
The influential role of NEXTA during the protest movement was reported by numerous international media outlets including Reuters, Associated Press, BBC and New York Times.
Nexta was pressured by the Belarusian government for coordinating with activists during the protests, including giving detailed instructions as to where and when protests should take place, which according to some journalists means that Nexta is not a journalistic news source. It has also been criticised for publishing unverified information. Protasevich and Putsila received numerous threats both from the Belarusian regime, they experienced massive attacks from Kremlin Bots.
In September 2020 Nexta expanded and grew into an editors office, they hired more journalists and developed thematic departments.
On 19 November 2020, Protasevich and Putsila became the first Belarusian citizen to be included on the country's official "list of terrorists". Human rights organization Amnesty International called the classification of the bloggers as terrorists "arbitrary" and said that the Belarusian authorities' decision was based solely on the journalistic work of them.
As of March 2021, the Belarusian Investigative Committee was seeking to recognize Nexta's editorial board as a ‘foreign extremist agent’.
In May 2021 Denis Urad, a former officer of the Belarusian Army, was sentenced to 18 years for treason. He was accused for disclosing to Nexta copies of the MVD request from the Ministry of Defence to send 4000 soldiers during the protests of 2020.
On his way to Vilnius back from vacation in Greece, Roman Protasevich, along with his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, was arrested by Belarusian authorities after his flight, Ryanair Flight 4978, was diverted to Minsk on the orders of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko on 23 May 2021, because of a false bomb threat conveyed by Belarusian air traffic control. In a July 2022 report, the International Civil Aviation Organization condemned the forced landing as "illegal interference" by the Belarusian government in aviation.
In June 2021, Protasevich was put under house arrest. On 6 May 2022, his former girlfriend Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison for "inciting social hatred".
In January 2022, the Warsaw district court declared that an extradition of Stsiapan Putsila would be "legally impermissible". Previously, Belarus applied to Poland for his extradition. Judge Dariusz Łubowski commented on the demands of the Belarusian government, by saying: "This country demands the extradition of a completely innocent citizen just because he has different views than the psychopathic dictator--a dictator who isn't recognised by any civilised state". As a result of that, the Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus initiated criminal proceedings against Łubowski.
On April 8, 2022, the Supreme Court of Belarus declared the Nexta, Nexta Live and Luxta channels a "terrorist organization" and banned their activities in the country. This was done at the request of the Prosecutor General of Belarus.
On February 16, 2023, in Minsk a trial started against Raman Pratasevich, Stsiapan Putsila and Yan Rudzik. Only Pratasevich was present on site. The other two defendants are in exile. The Committee to Protect Journalists called the authorities to "immediately stop this sham trial, drop all charges against Pratasevich, Rudzik, and Putsila, and let the journalists work freely." On May 3, 2023, Pratasevich was sentenced to eight years of prison. His co-defendants, Yan Rudzik and Stsiapan Putsila, who were tried in absentia, were sentenced to 19 and 20 years in prison.
On 22 May 2023 it was announced that Pratasevich had been pardoned. His pardon was confirmed the next day and Pratasevich was released from custody.
On July 31, 2023, the European Parliament passed another resolution in which it asks the European Commission and the Member States, to strengthen Belarusian media outlets, including Nexta.
Conflict with government-controlled TV channels
Slonim's mayor court case
Chudentsov case
2020–2021 protests in Belarus
Extremism accusations, bans and repressions
Protasevich arrest
Designation as 'extremist group' and trial
Reception
Awards
Misinformation
Filmography
External links
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