Nexta

Nexta
White letter N in blue circle with red chat box extending upwards.
Nexta Logo
StatusActive
Founded2015
FounderStsiapan Putsila
Country of originBelarus
Headquarters locationWarsaw, Poland
DistributionOnline
Key peopleStsiapan Putsila, Roman Protasevich, Tadeusz Giczan
Official websitenexta.tv

Nexta (Belarusian pronunciation: [nʲexta] niekh-ta) is a Belarusian media outlet that is primarily distributed through Telegram and YouTube channels. The YouTube channel was founded by then 17-year-old student Stsiapan Putsila.[1][2] The channel's headquarters are located in Warsaw, Poland, after its founder went into exile.[3]

It became the biggest Telegram channel in Belarus as the primary source of news covering events that followed the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. The Telegram channel mostly featured short videos and images submitted by users taken during the rallies, while longer original videos are shared on YouTube.[1] During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Nexta became an operational resource reporting on the events of the war.[4] Nexta operates one of the largest Twitter accounts in the Russian-speaking world, with more than one million followers.[5] In May 2022, NEXTA Live became the largest Belarusian YouTube channel by number of views.[6]

Nexta faces pressure from Belarusian authorities. Since October 2020, Nexta and its logo are considered extremist content in Belarus. Its founder Stsiapan Putsila and the former editor-in-chief Roman Protasevich were put by Belarusian authorities on a list of "individuals involved in terrorist activity" in November 2020. Amnesty International stated that the classification of the bloggers as terrorists was "arbitrary" and that the Belarusian authorities' decision was based solely on Putsila's and Protasevich's journalism.[7] Since October 2021, NEXTA, NEXTA Live and Luxta are also classified as extremist groups. In April 2022, they were declared a terrorist organization by the Supreme Court of Belarus.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Who is Roman Protasevich? Belarus dissident journalist in profile". BBC News. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Inside Nexta: The journalists taking on Belarus' regime". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  3. ^ Kingsley, Patrick (4 September 2020). "The 22-Year-Old Coordinating Protests in Belarus, From a Small Office in Poland". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  4. ^ Kowalski, Jacek (28 February 2022). "Nexta stała się dobrym źródłem informacji z Ukrainy. Jak dziennikarze relacjonują wojnę Rosji". Wirtualne Media (in Polish). Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Рейтинг аккантов русского Твиттера". t30p.ru (in Russian). 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Количество просмотров беларуских YouTube-каналов в мае 2022 (включая аудиторные показатели)". Infopolicy.biz (in Russian). 7 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Belarus: Free journalist detained following forced emergency landing in Minsk". Amnesty International. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Belarusian Supreme Court Declares Nexta Telegram Channels 'Terrorist Organization'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 9 April 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.