The 2020 Belarusian protest on the internet: Elites lost, society won?

Abstract

The development of information technologies and social networks makes it possible to significantly increase the effectiveness of the mechanisms of social self-organisation and politicisation of wider social masses, thus influencing the processes of democratisation of societies and political systems. This particularly applies to post-Soviet states. The development of the socio-political crisis that began in Belarus in August 2020 can be a very valuable subject for research into the impact of modern digital tools (messengers, social networks, crowdfunding, and so on) on the dynamics of changes in post-Soviet transforming systems. The main objective of this article is to systematise and present the impact and influence that modern digital tools have had on the nature and dynamics of the ongoing Belarusian political crisis and social protest.