# Belarus: Deutsche Welle and other outlets labeled 'extremist'

Published 2026-09-23. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 2 sources.

Status: in effect, as of 2026-09-22.

What we don't know: The sources reviewed do not report whether the designation was later narrowed or lifted.

A Minsk court declared all output from German broadcaster Deutsche Welle "extremist," alongside a local newspaper and a Russian blogger's videos, making it a crime to produce, store or share the labeled material, as a former correspondent was jailed the same week.[1][2][3][4]

- Country: [Belarus](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/by) (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180)
- Where: BY
- Level of government: National
- Tactic: Official labels
- Stage: Pressure (ladder: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/disinformation_labeling#stage-pressure)
- Ladder note: Belarus banned a foreign broadcaster's entire output as extremist material, making it a crime to read or share it, and jailed a former correspondent the same week; no United States "fake news" label makes sharing an outlet's work a crime.
- Head of government at the time: [Alexander Lukashenko](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/alexander-lukashenko)
- Issue of the day: Not stated in the sources reviewed.
- Outcome: Sustained, 9 March 2022. The designation brought the total number of outlets labeled extremist in Belarus to 20 and was not reported as reversed.
- Era: The 2020s

## What happened

On March 3, 2022, a Minsk district court sentenced Aleh Hruzdzilovich, a former correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to a year and a half in prison over his participation in three protests in 2020. Days later, on March 9, 2022, Minsk's Central District Court declared all information products of Deutsche Welle, Germany's public broadcaster, to be extremist material, effectively banning the outlet inside Belarus. The same order labeled the independent newspaper Regionalnaya Gazeta and videos by Russian blogger Yuriy Dud extremist as well, bringing the total number of outlets Belarus had designated extremist to 20. Under Belarusian law, anyone convicted of producing, storing or sharing material labeled extremist can be fined up to 960 rubles or detained for up to 15 days; Belarus's information ministry separately warned that even subscribing to a labeled outlet's Telegram channel could lead to prosecution.[1][2][3][4]

Sustained as of the source reviewed.[1][2][3][4]

## What reason was given

Not stated in the sources reviewed.[1][2][3][4]

## What changed for reporting

The designation made it a punishable offense inside Belarus to read, store or share Deutsche Welle's reporting, cutting off a foreign broadcaster's audience by criminalizing the audience's own conduct rather than the broadcaster's.[2][3]

## Timeline

- 2022-03-09: Belarus: Deutsche Welle and other outlets labeled 'extremist'

## Who acted

| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Alexander Lukashenko](https://thewaronnews.com/actors/alexander-lukashenko) | other | President of Belarus |
| [Central District Court, Minsk](https://thewaronnews.com/actors/minsk-central-district-court) | other | Belarusian court that issued the extremist designations |

## Outlets and journalists

| Name | Kind | Relation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Deutsche Welle](https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/deutsche-welle) | outlet | affected |
| [Regionalnaya Gazeta](https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/regionalnaya-gazeta) | outlet | affected |
| [Aleh Hruzdzilovich](https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/aleh-hruzdzilovich) | journalist, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty | affected |

## Sources

1. Belarus authorities sentence journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich to prison, label more media 'extremist'. https://cpj.org/2022/03/belarus-authorities-sentence-journalist-aleh-hruzdzilovich-to-prison-label-more-media-extremist/ (Committee to Protect Journalists, 2022-03-11).
2. Belarus classifies Deutsche Welle as 'extremist'. https://dokmz.com/2022/03/10/belarus-classifies-deutsche-welle-as-extremist/ (dokmz (media-freedom news aggregator), 2022-03-10).

## Claims cited

[1] The scope of the March 9, 2022 order against Deutsche Welle. Quote: "On Wednesday, March 9, the Central District Court in Minsk declared all "information products" by DW extremist, effectively banning the broadcaster in the country" Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2022-03-11. Belarus authorities sentence journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich to prison, label more media 'extremist'. https://cpj.org/2022/03/belarus-authorities-sentence-journalist-aleh-hruzdzilovich-to-prison-label-more-media-extremist/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/695, checked 2026-09-22.

[2] The penalty for producing, storing or sharing extremist-labeled material. Quote: "Anyone convicted of producing, storing, or spreading materials designated extremist can be fined up to 960 rubles (US$290) or detained for up to 15 days," Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2022-03-11. Belarus authorities sentence journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich to prison, label more media 'extremist'. https://cpj.org/2022/03/belarus-authorities-sentence-journalist-aleh-hruzdzilovich-to-prison-label-more-media-extremist/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/696, checked 2026-09-22.

[3] Warning issued alongside the designation. Quote: "The MDCOCC announcement about DW warned of prosecution even for subscribing to Telegram channels and chats of outlets designated as extremist." Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2022-03-11. Belarus authorities sentence journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich to prison, label more media 'extremist'. https://cpj.org/2022/03/belarus-authorities-sentence-journalist-aleh-hruzdzilovich-to-prison-label-more-media-extremist/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/697, checked 2026-09-22.

[4] Scale of Belarus's use of the extremist label against media by this point. Quote: "The designations of DW and Regionalnaya Gazeta as extremist takes the number of media outlets labelled as such to 20," Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2022-03-11. Belarus authorities sentence journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich to prison, label more media 'extremist'. https://cpj.org/2022/03/belarus-authorities-sentence-journalist-aleh-hruzdzilovich-to-prison-label-more-media-extremist/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/698, checked 2026-09-22.

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-belarus-labels-dw-extremist. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.