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 Nexta Logo | |
| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founder | Stsiapan Putsila |
| Country of origin | Belarus |
| Headquarters location | Warsaw, Poland |
| Distribution | Online |
| Key people | Stsiapan Putsila, Roman Protasevich, Tadeusz Giczan |
| Official website | nexta |
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 Telegram news channels in the Russian-speaking world, with almost one million subscribers.[5] According to a statistic of the media project "Information Policy" from July 2024, NEXTA Live is the second-largest Belarusian YouTube channel by number of views.[6] According to the statistics of the channel "YouTube of Belarus", NEXTA Live is the largest independent Belarusian YouTube channel, if one does not take into account the state-owned media channels.[7]
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.[8] 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.[9]
- ^ a b "Who is Roman Protasevich? Belarus dissident journalist in profile". BBC News. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ "Inside Nexta: The journalists taking on Belarus' regime". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Рейтинг Telegram-каналов". tgstat.com (in Russian). 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Беларускія YouTube-каналы, якія сабралі больш за ўсё праглядаў відэа: вывучаем спіс". baj.media (in Belarusian). 7 June 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
- ^ YouTube of Belarus
- ^ "Belarus: Free journalist detained following forced emergency landing in Minsk". Amnesty International. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ "Belarusian Supreme Court Declares Nexta Telegram Channels 'Terrorist Organization'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 9 April 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.