Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke at the “Safeguarding Democracy: How to Confront Information Manipulation” event
co-organized by GLOBSEC during the Munich Security Conference:
“Dear excellencies, dear friends.
Let me thank the GLOBSEC for organizing this timely discussion.
The news of Navalny’s death shocked me, and shocked all of us.
He never stopped challenging the regime even from prison. In one of his last messages, he said: “People, don’t give up! You have to realize your power”. I believe this is a message to all of us.
His murder is a dark reminder that security, democracy, and human rights are interconnected. If the government doesn’t respect its own citizens, it won’t respect international order, and vice versa.
It is also a reminder why we must do everything to support Ukraine’s victory, and those fighting for freedom in Belarus.
Yesterday, just after we had this horrible news, I had the chance to meet Yuliya here in Munich and tell her how much I can feel her pain.
I don’t even want to think that my husband can be the next one. I have not heard from him for a year already, and I don’t know if he is alive.
And we have thousands of political prisoners, in dire condition. Many are held incommunicado. Several already died in prison. I feel that the dictators are testing their limits: how far they can go without consequences.
The lives of Mikalai Statkevich, Viktar Babaryka, Masha Kolesnikava and thousands of others now directly depend on the Western reaction to the murder of Alexei Navalny.
If it will be limited to “deep condolences” (and so far it looks like that), then we should prepare for more terrible news.
We must hold dictators accountable for every single crime they commit. For crimes against humanity and war crimes in Ukraine.
To restore justice – first, we have to reveal the truth. This is what Alexey Navalny was doing in Russia. This is what my husband was doing in Belarus.
Dictators prefer to do their crimes in darkness. So no one knows about them. Therefore, they keep political prisoners incommunicado. Therefore, they attack and jail independent journalists. Therefore, they try to control the internet.
Unfortunately, the internet is no longer the space of freedom, as it was before. Dictators are also learning. To trace opponents. To discredit activists. To manipulate public opinion.
The technologies created to help people and spread information, were weaponized by tyrants. For example, Belarus’ KGB learned to use Youtube to spread fear. Every day, when they detain and torture someone, they record a so-called “confessional video”. They put it online, and promote it through Google ads.
They also learned to create deep fakes to spread disinformation about political opponents.
They are masterfully using the “report” tool on social networks. They are sending massive complaints on Instagram and Facebook, blocking independent media and organizations.
Sometimes, social media contributes to spreading propaganda indirectly. On most of the platforms, Belarusian language is not supported. As a result, people inside Belarus are shown the content from Russia Today, Sputnik, and others.
Unfortunately tech companies are sometimes too slow to react, to adjust, and solve these problems. Many of them don’t see the sense to invest in it.
And many – as Navalny said – don’t realize their power. Especially in authoritarian countries like Belarus.
Dear friends,
This fight for democracy can not be won alone. To win this fight, we need everyone onboard.
I wish to invite tech companies to be on the good side of history.
We need more cooperation between governments, activists, international organizations and private companies.
We need to make sure that the digital space remains the space of freedom.
We need secure communication tools and platforms to amplify our voices.
We must all not only realize our power, but also exercise it for good.
Thank you”.
