Session to discuss new approaches to ensuring information security

New approaches to ensuring information security of the state have been discussed at a government session held by Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 31 January.

“I would like to discussed a number of issues concerning, first of all, the information security of our state. We have plenty of work here. I cannot say that we have much success in this field. This issue is very serious,” the head of state said.

He remarked that a corresponding issue was raised during the telephone conversation with Russia President Vladimir Putin which took place just before the session. “As far as the coming meeting is concerned, we decided to discuss this issue in the context of our bilateral relations where we can work together,” the Belarusian leader said.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, information security is a very serious aspect of the country’s security in general. “I should say that today (and you know it better than anybody else) it has come to the forefront in the operation of any state. To put it bluntly (God forbid, of course), any cold and especially hot war never starts without information pressure and confrontation. Therefore, in a more large-scale and serious dimension we will analyze this issue at the nearest session of the Security Council of Belarus. This is number one issue on our agenda,” the head of state said.

“We do not need to propagate anything. But it is important to fight for our principles, improve the image of our country. And we must be able to counter, especially in mass media, certain attacks against Belarus (and they emerge from different sides from time to time). We must sort it out. Information security in the context of mass media, especially the Internet, is the main issue,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.

He stressed that the main topic is efficiency. “There is low efficiency right now, especially with regard to measures against various channels, pages and Internet sites. You see what it going on today. We do not take enough countermeasures. We have more than enough specialists and experts. However, we did not have a corresponding organization. We must know how to do it,” the president said.

In his words, it is also essential to set up an organization to evaluate mass media ratings. “But this organization should be trusted by people and, first of all, by mass media that are subject to evaluation,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The participants of the meeting also discussed Belarus’ advertising market. “We must do something to protect it if necessary. So, we must determine what to do, in what context we will develop adverting is mass media to make sure that this money stays, first of all, in the country, in our leading mass media,” the Belarusian leader said.

The government session was attended by representatives of the Belarus President Administration, heads of mass media outlets, experts.