Communication service provider A1 Belarus agrees to block users’ access to the Internet during demonstrations against former President Alexander Lukashenko, citing Austrian media, Polish newspaper reports Gazeta Wyborcza.
Meanwhile, in early August, the Austrian government condemned any attempt by the Belarusian authorities to restrict citizens’ access to the Internet, the Polish newspaper emphasizes.
A press release issued by the Austrian government at the time stated that it was unacceptable to force telecommunications companies to do so.
The announcement was made by Vienna after the Lukashenko regime blocked the internet in the country, while police protests brutally suppressed protests following the August 9 elections.
Gazeta Wyborcza points out that A1 Belarus owned by the company A1 Telecom, in which the Austrian government controls 28% of the shares.
Of Belarus’s population of less than ten million, almost five million are A1 Belarus customers.
The company explained to Austrian journalists that it had acted in accordance with the laws of Belarus and the instructions of state institutions.
Meanwhile A1 Telecom denied that it had given the Belarussian authorities access to the protesters’ data, writes Wiener Zeitung.
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