FOTP 2013 Full Report

nationwide, and the content of smaller television and radio stations is tightly restricted, partlythrough highly secretive and politicized licensing procedures. Three independent broadcasterstransmit their programming from neighboring Poland—BelSat television, Radio Racyja, andEuropean Radio for Belarus—but authorities actively obstruct the work of their journalists. Mostlocal independent outlets regularly practice self-censorship, especially when reporting on thefamily and business interests of Lukashenka and his closest allies. In January 2012, the Minskbasedtelevision channel MTIS stopped rebroadcasting news from the pan-European televisionchannel Euronews, citing an increase in fees charged by the latter’s owners. Lukashenka hadbeen highly critical of Euronews coverage in the past, leading some experts to question whetherthe move was due to political rather than financial pressure.Tax exemptions for state media give them a considerable advantage over private outlets. In theprint sector, the government has barred most independent and opposition newspapers from beingdistributed by the state-owned postal and kiosk systems, from being printed by the state printer,and from any access to state advertising contracts or media subsidies. Independent papers areforced to sell directly from their newsrooms and use volunteers to deliver copies, but regionalauthorities sometimes harass and arrest the private distributors. Due to the country’s deepeningeconomic crisis, independent media have struggled with rising costs and declining advertisingrevenue, and even the state media faced a 20 percent budget decrease in 2012.BelgiumStatus: FreeLegal Environment: 2Political Environment: 4Economic Environment: 5Total Score: 11Survey Edition 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Total Score, Status 11,F 12,F 12,F 12,F 11,FFreedom of the press is safeguarded under Articles 19 and 25 of the Belgian constitution, and therights of the media are generally respected in practice. The law prohibits hate speech, includingHolocaust denial, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Journalistic sourcesare protected under a 2005 law, which also protects journalists from search and seizure. A 1994law allows individuals to obtain access to official documents held by executive and judicialauthorities, and stipulates that public authorities must offer an explanation of the document ifrequested. The print media are self-regulated by the Federation of Editors, an industry body inwhich all major newspapers are represented.There are no government restrictions on use of the internet, though the authoritiescontinue to block The Pirate Bay and other file-sharing websites on the grounds that theypromote copyright violations. In 2011, the Belgian courts had ruled that the U.S. technology firmGoogle had breached Belgian copyright and database laws by posting articles withoutauthorization on its Google News service. In reaction, Google blocked several BelgianFrancophone newspapers from its web search results for a few days in July 2011. The six-yearlongdispute ended in December 2012, when Google and Belgium’s French-language publishers87