ONT adheres to pro-government political views. In news programs and documentary projects, the policies pursued by President
Alexander Lukashenko are strongly endorsed. Broadcast interviews with opposition figures were kept to a minimum, and after the 2020 presidential elections, they ceased altogether. In addition, during this period, propaganda sections appeared on the channel (for example, "It Will Be Supplemented", "Anti-Fake") in which the opposition was discredited, and the current interview program
Markov. Nothing Personal is now dedicated exclusively to people who publicly approve of the activities of the Belarusian authorities.
Closing of the talk show Choice during the 2010 presidential elections On December 19, 2010, ONT aired a special edition of the talk show
Choice hosted by Sergei Dorofeev (who is also the head of the channel's morning broadcasting directorate). During the broadcast, Dorofeev, who at that time held opposition political views, began asking "uncomfortable" questions to the officials who were in the studio, including the head of the Central Election Commission of Belarus
Lidia Ermoshina, focusing, in particular, on violations at polling stations, the exclusion of opposition representatives, an official ban on mass protests, and forcing citizens to participate in early voting. After many such questions asked by Dorofeev, Ermoshina defiantly left the program's studio, saying that she "doesn't have time to be liberal while people are blocked in the
Central Election Commission". After this broadcast, the program went on hiatus, from which it did not return. From January 31, 2011, the channel began airing a new talk show,
Open Format, which took the place of
Choice (the topic of the first episode of the new program was the past presidential elections, its guest was also Ermoshina, and the episode itself didn't ask the "uncomfortable" questions). In April 2011, Sergei Dorofeev was fired from ONT.
Coverage of the 2020 presidential election and subsequent protests On June 12, 2020, during the presidential election campaign, ONT broadcast a video in which affirmative statements were made regarding the guilt of the presidential candidate
Viktor Babariko, and those detained in the Belgazprombank case: "I can't even imagine that such activities could be carried out without the knowledge of the manager. And I can already say that we have evidence of his participation in this illegal activity." According to the head of the Belarusian non-profit human rights organization "Legal Initiative", Victoria Fedorova, these statements are unacceptable and grossly violate human rights, as well as the principle of the presumption of innocence, enshrined in Article 26 of the Constitution and in Article 16 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Belarus. In June 2020, without explanation, the author's program
The Adventures of Captain Wrangel, with one of the most famous Belarusian TV presenters, Dmitry Wrangel, who had previously condemned the brutality of Belarusian riot police detaining buyers at the souvenir shop
SYMBAL.BY in Minsk, was taken off the air. At the same time, the contract with Dmitry Wrangel was to run until the end of 2020. According to the presenter, it was his civic position that caused the program to be taken off the air. In July 2020, the sports section of the
Our Morning program on ONT, which was hosted on Mondays by the famous Belarusian gymnast Melitina Staniuta, was taken off the air. Also in July 2020, the popular TV presenter of the show
Luck In The Bargain, Dmitry Kokhno, was taken off the air; he also had criticized the actions of riot police who harshly detained civilians standing in line at the store of SYMBAL.BY. The leader's post against the actions of the Belarusian riot police was even quoted by the American publication
The New York Times.
Spread of misinformation ONT has more than once been accused of distributing misinformation, which is analyzed by the
Evil News program on Poland's
Belsat: "Polish television showed a map of the division of Ukraine." "Italy itself takes more than a quarter of the grain supplied to Europe. All these famous pizzas and pasta – where do they actually come from? From Russian wheat." "In the
European Union, due to quarrels with Russia, fuel prices have risen sharply. Except for those member countries that are friends with Moscow, contrary to the official position of the bloc. For such European friends of Russia, fuel prices, on the contrary, are falling." and others. ==Notes==