What Belarusians want and what they care about: published the third block of results of a large-scale social research

The results of the third part of a large-scale sociological study on topical issues of the international and domestic agenda were presented in Minsk on September 23. Among the main topics are Belarus’ relations with other countries, trust in the state media, as well as issues that concern everyone every day: from the mobile Internet to trading platforms.

An important block concerned the main sources of information: for Belarusians, these are Internet resources and television. Maintaining a strong tradition of TV viewing is an important part of media consumption, providing diversity and choice for audiences. However, many people prefer personal communication. Confidence in Belarusian state media is growing. According to a sociological survey, 63.8 percent of Belarusians trust them. These figures indicate an objectively high demand of the population for reliable and high-quality information. In different regions, the level of trust is uniform, but the highest indicator was recorded in the Grodno region - 87.6 percent. The Minister of information Dmitry Zhuk in the air of the TV channel “First information” drew attention to the fact that people are not disappointed in the decisions made on the basis of information given by the state media, because this information is designed primarily to help them understand the situation and not to make mistakes: – The figure in Grodno region is absolutely clear. On that region, like no other, very much information pressure our neighbors. Unfortunately, they are pressuring their unreliable, I say this very softly, diplomatically, information. Most people there know Polish and speak it, they can compare the information of our media and what comes from there. This comparison further highlights the benefits of a realistic, truthful stance by the Belarusian state media.

The high level of trust in the state media, according to the survey, is due to the significant public demand for reliable, objective and meaningful information. In the conditions of global information turbulence, which is characterized by the active spread of fakes and technologies for manipulating public opinion, the Belarusian viewer, reader, user of the network space wants to receive truthful information about the events taking place in the country and the world. According to the director of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Nikolai Myslyvets, these figures indicate an objectively high demand of the population of the republic for reliable and high-quality information:

- In general, the level of trust in the state media is relatively uniform in different regions of the country. Based on the long-term practice of conducting sociological research, it can be stated that confidence in the Belarusian state media is growing every year. This trend allows us to talk about their growing popularity and demand from the Belarusian media audience.

Trust in the media is first and foremost the belief of the audience in the credibility of the media. Elena Pasyuta, Chairman of the Grodno Regional Council of Deputies, noted in this regard that Belarusians are “eating” fake stuffing from unverified sources of information and are looking for quality, reliable content, which is why trust in state media is growing:

- The study also reflects another modern trend – Belarusians prefer to read news mainly on websites and portals. It is fast, convenient, because the smartphone is always at hand. Given the demand of time, the state press has long ceased to be a press in its classical sense. This is already convergent journalism, when the news is not only in the newspaper – primarily on the news portal, as well as on popular platforms TikTok, YouTube, in telegram channels. The development of various channels of information by the state media infuriates our opponents, so they block them, but the voice of truth still breaks through and bears fruit.

The development of author journalism, thematic versatility, focus on analytical content and the active involvement of experts from various fields in commenting on the current information agenda have led to the fact that the state media is the platform that the Belarusian audience actively visits to obtain objective and reliable information. One of the questions of the questionnaire was devoted to the sources of information used by Belarusians. According to the obtained data, 57.4 percent of respondents use Internet resources, 52.3 prefer television, 48.4 turn to social networks and instant messengers, 44.1 chose personal communication (family, friends, neighbors), 17.5 – the press (newspapers, magazines, etc.), 13.3 – communication with colleagues, 9.9 – radio.

- Despite the significant popularity of digital media, the results of the study indicate a continued high interest in television as a source of information. Internet sources as a mass media are more in demand among the urban population, while residents of rural settlements often prefer television. Preserving a strong tradition of TV viewing is an important part of media consumption, providing diversity and choice for the audience, Myslivets noted.

The capital traditionally acts as a center of concentration of digital infrastructure. Eight out of ten Minsk residents actively turn to online sources, which indicates a high level of digital literacy, accessibility of infrastructure and the demand for modern formats. Residents of the capital are more often employed in areas where the Internet is an integral part of everyday and professional life, which forms a habit of turning to online sources and for news. In addition, more young and active users live in Minsk, for whom the Internet is a familiar environment. The director of the Institute of Sociology said that in the era of digitalization, the ubiquitous spread of gadgets and the almost daily format of consumption of information content from the network space, the Internet and social networks will occupy significant positions in the domestic information field and maintain a stable demand from the audience.

- At the same time, I would like to note the high demand for television as a source of mass information. In the context of the transformation of the media space, in which the audience’s attention is redistributed from traditional media sources to network resources, the continued high demand for television content indicates the popularity of Belarusian television and its effectiveness as a channel of information and communication. Domestic television confidently withstands competition with network resources, preserving its audience and viewer in the era of the Internet and digitalization. This trend is largely ensured by high indicators of trust in the information content of Belarusian television from the audience, objective comments on the current information agenda from experts and the media community, prompt informing the population about significant events in the country and the world, the source said.

Also an important channel for obtaining information is personal communication, namely family, friends, neighbors.

- This testifies to the importance for Belarusians of such an important attribute of traditional values as the institution of the family, which also plays a significant role in shaping the picture of the world in the daily life of Belarusians. Interpersonal communication, trusting relationships in the family, joint discussion of the current internal and external information agenda can become an alternative to the information influence of network resources in the domestic media space, Myslivets said. In addition to strategic topics, there were everyday, but no less important. So, one of the questions was about satisfaction with the quality of mobile Internet. Young people, as the most active user of the network, pointed to shortcomings, namely, not always high speed and cliffs. This is more often faced by residents away from the Minsk ring. Nearly 40 percent of the rural population cannot always be online without disruption. In general, the majority of respondents assess the quality of mobile Internet positively. Of these, almost 19 percent of those surveyed said everything loads quickly, and more than 40 percent indicated that there are rare crashes. Technical Director of the hosting provider HB.BY - the official registrar of .BY/.BEL domains Konstantin Rakhanov drew attention to how much the Internet has changed in recent years:

- If we had been told 30 years ago that we would be watching videos, paying for purchases and even dealing with work, we would not have believed it. Today it is impossible to imagine our life without a global network, we take it for granted. The older generation is more difficult to get used to the Internet, millennials have grown up with the Internet, the buzzers in the smartphone have their whole life – study, work, communication, entertainment, shopping, dating. So it turns out that if someone loses connection, he feels as if he was disconnected from the world. And the survey shows that the new generation is much more demanding on the quality of mobile Internet. This is already part of our daily routine.

They were also asked if they felt safe as pedestrians on sidewalks next to bicycles and electric scooters. Two-thirds of Belarusians feel comfortable, thus confirming that we are not a conflict society, ready to always find a compromise.

- Differences between regions can be associated with the peculiarities of urban planning, the width of sidewalks and the presence of specially equipped zones. Technologies will continue to develop, so our task is not to deny innovations, but to create conditions under which pedestrians and owners of such devices will be able to safely and comfortably coexist in a single urban space, said Anna Dudchik, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law for Ideological and Educational Work of the Brest Pushkin State University.

Belarusian society manages to maintain common sense and conflict-free thinking even in conditions of inter-civilizational confrontation. This is our strength and uniqueness. According to Eduard Gavrilkovich, General Director of RUPP “Granit”, member of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly on Economy, Budget and Finance, unity of views, values, traditions and cohesion of Belarusians are natural:

- In Belarus, every citizen has social guarantees. The results of social research only confirm that everyone feels for himself, people see the real results of state policy in their daily lives.

The member of the Council of the Republic stressed that such unity has been formed for more than one year, it is based on the historical memory of the people, respect for the feat of older generations and respect for the national heritage.

- Our citizens see relations with different countries in a positive way, regardless of the current geopolitical situation. Belarus does not choose between East and West. Belarus chooses everyone. And this is our strength, said Eduard Gavrilkovich.

In general, it is worth saying that the top topics that our citizens consider to be the most relevant for themselves are issues of peace and security, inflation and prices, as well as the level of wages. Further, housing affordability, cyber and telephone fraud, the quality and availability of health care and medicines, the level of pensions and utility tariffs. At the same time, heterogeneity of estimates was recorded depending on the age of the respondents. For example, housing and salaries are often discussed by young people. Deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly Alexander Shpakovsky on the air of the talk show “Budni” said that sociological research is akin to medicine:

- From time to time, a person should undergo a physical examination to understand the real state of their health. So the state, having such an instrument as sociology, in this case "measuring the temperature" in society. Electoral campaigns can be such key measurements. In 2024, Belarus elected a corps of deputies of the House of Representatives and local councils, in 2025 we passed through presidential elections. The results, frankly speaking, testified to a convincing victory of patriotic forces, high popular trust in the incumbent Head of State and demonstrated that there is a high level of consolidation in society.

Since then, different events have taken place in the economy and in international politics, and the level of threats against Belarus has increased. At the same time, real incomes of the population are also increasing, and gold and foreign exchange reserves are record high. It is quite safe in Belarus. Last year, there was the lowest crime rate in sovereign history.

- The conducted sociological research largely confirmed that the situation in the country is stable and manageable, there is a consensus in society on the issue of supporting the course of the current government, which in domestic policy is aimed at preserving a socially oriented state, maintaining law and order, developing the economy, modernizing the existing opportunities in the industrial and agrarian spheres. And in the external – to avoid being drawn into the space of war, reduce the level of conflict, strengthen our alliances. That is, this course of sovereign Belarus, implemented by the Head of State, enjoys high public support. The authorities in this situation can give themselves a high rating. This means that it feels the pulse of society, and society itself is fully involved in the decision-making process. Although self-complacency is not necessary in any case.

According to our correspondents.

We will talk about other details of social research in the next issue.