Tractors, Rockets and the Internet in Belarus (37c3)

With dropping costs of surveillance smaller authoritarian regimes are gaining easier access to different "out of the box" security solutions used mainly to further oppress people. On example of Belarus we will see the future that awaits people in many different parts of the world if things don't change fast. Republic of Belarus is ruled for last 29 years by authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko. From the deputy chief of collective farm in USSR to the longest president in Europe, he continues to navigate complicated political scene between Russia/EU/US for his own advantage. Not even close to any technological sector through help of many Lukashenko turned Belarus into IT country with a lot western countries using developers from the dictatorship for their own project. This presentation is about how the soviet modelled dictatorship managed to transform into technological authoritarian regime, where people are monitored and controlled of their loyalty to the regime, while also continuing a massive wave of repressions started from uprising against Alexander Lukashenko in 2020. The presentation is made by a member of ABC-Belarus - a political solidarity organization from Belarus, working on supporting prisoners and developing security culture among street activists. about this event: https://events.ccc.de/congress/2023/hub/event/tractors_rockets_and_the_internet_in_belarus/