Who is trying to remove Euroradio article about ex-head of UN office in Belarus?

11/07/2024 - 11:39

"Well-wishers" of Sanaka Samarasinha use an unusual pressure method on Euroradio. / @rubanau_collage

Some unknown individuals are trying to get the editors of Euroradio to remove the sensational article "Not enough sex: Belarusian woman says UN coordinator also molested her". The text is about the ex-head of the organisation's office in Belarus, Sanaka Samarasinha, who is accused of harassment.

Samarasinha's "well-wishers" use an unusual method of pressure. They make copies of the English translation of the article and throw them at Euroradio, accusing us of plagiarism.

The first of these copies appeared on the blogging site Tumblr. It allows you to edit the publication date so the text is presented earlier than it appeared on Euroradio. The publication's "author" then sent complaints about copyright violations to the hosting company with which the editors work and to the service that protects us against DDOS attacks.

Both companies immediately contacted Euroradio because, according to the terms of cooperation, we cannot violate the copyrights of others. We explained this was a scam and proved to Tumblr that the editors' copyrights were being violated. After that, the doubtful blog was taken down.

An example of a message our newsroom received about a "violation" complaint

But the story goes on. Now, the article is posted on another blog service, and again, letters are sent to Euroradio's partners claiming copyright infringement. Of course, the editors have filed a reply complaint, but this could take a very long time. And at some point, the automated control systems may not work in our favour.

It is obvious that these people are taking such steps to get Euroradio to remove the article mentioned. If they did, the basis for their claims would disappear. Who could be interested in removing material that compromises Mr. Sanaka Samarasinha?

We can only guess.

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