State Propaganda Creates Alternative Reality for Belarusians, Study Finds

Belarusian State Media Creates Parallel Reality for Citizens, Study Finds

A comprehensive analysis by the FactCheck.LT project has revealed how Belarusian state-owned media systematically constructs an alternative reality for its audience, creating an information environment drastically different from that presented by independent outlets.

The extensive study, which examined Belarusian media coverage throughout 2025, processed approximately 150,000 publications—77,000 from state-controlled media and 72,000 from independent sources. Researchers extracted around 40,000 quotations and 450,000 mentions from these materials, allowing for a detailed comparison of narrative construction across the media landscape.

“These two information spaces intersect only at an inevitable point—the figures of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Vladimir Putin, and senior Russian officials. Everything else exists in parallel universes,” the FactCheck.LT researchers concluded in their findings.

The analysis revealed stark differences in not just editorial preferences, but in the fundamental construction of reality presented to audiences. Citizens consuming state media inhabit an information world where the Belarusian opposition is effectively invisible, statements from former U.S. President Donald Trump receive minimal coverage, and neighboring Lithuania’s perspective is largely silenced.

Instead, state media portrays Hungary as Belarus’s primary Western ally and heavily features commentary from pro-Russian experts to shape public perception. This curated narrative creates significant blind spots in Belarusians’ understanding of regional and global affairs when relying solely on state sources.

By contrast, readers of independent media receive a substantially different picture of world events. These outlets give significant coverage to Ukrainian military personnel and politicians, continue to amplify voices from Belarus’s democratic forces, and provide context through statements from Western leaders ranging from neighboring Lithuania to the United States.

The divergence in coverage illustrates how state media in Belarus serves as more than just a propaganda tool—it functions as an architect of an entirely separate information ecosystem designed to isolate citizens from perspectives that might challenge the government’s preferred narrative.

This information segregation represents a critical challenge for Belarusian society, as citizens consuming different media sources essentially experience two incompatible versions of reality. The only common ground in both information spheres remains the coverage of President Lukashenka, Russian President Putin, and senior Russian officials—figures who cannot be ignored in either media ecosystem due to their dominant political positions.

The findings come amid growing concerns about media freedom in Belarus following the 2020 presidential election and subsequent crackdown on independent journalism. Many independent media organizations have been forced to relocate outside Belarus, with their websites blocked inside the country, further limiting citizens’ access to alternative information sources.

Media analysts suggest this bifurcation of information spaces serves the strategic interests of the Belarusian government by reducing exposure to critical perspectives and reinforcing state narratives about Belarus’s place in the world. The systematic erasure of opposition voices from state media coverage particularly underscores the political nature of these editorial decisions.

The FactCheck.LT project’s research provides quantifiable evidence of how information manipulation operates in practice in Belarus, moving beyond anecdotal observations to document specific patterns in coverage and citation. The study’s methodology of comparing citation patterns and subject matter across media types offers a blueprint for similar analyses in other countries experiencing media polarization or state control of information.

As Belarus continues to navigate its complex relationship with Russia, the European Union, and its own citizens, this information divide threatens to further complicate efforts to address political and social challenges facing the country. The parallel realities constructed by different media sectors not only reflect existing divisions in Belarusian society but actively deepen them through selective presentation of events, voices, and perspectives.