Belarus to make subscribing to some social media channels a criminal offence

> The Belarusian directorate for fighting organised crime said in a statement that "subscribers to extremist Telegram channels and chats will be held criminally liable ... as members of an extremist group."

Of course, the nifty thing about this, from the perspective of a government in existential panic mode, is how easy it is to label a group as "extremist."

Want to stage a terrorist action? Extremist! Want to change the government? Extremist! Want to hold a demonstration that could draw a million angry people into the streets? Extremist! Want to complain about the ineptitude and moral decay of your elected officials? Extremist! Want to post some thoughts about current events to a news discussion site? Extremist!

They are merely harmonizing with UK law:

People who repeatedly view terrorist content online will face up to 15 years in prison, the home secretary has told the Conservative Party conference. Amber Rudd set out her intention to change the law to increase the maximum penalty from 10 years. - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41479620