The Belarus Ministry of Internal Affairs declared Friday that three of the country’s most popular social media channels will be classed as “extremist.”

Telegram channels, NEXTA, NEXTA live, and LUXTA were widely used during the street protests in 2020 to protest against the election, which resulted in Alexander Lukashenko being sworn in as president. Nearly one in ten people are subscribed to these channels, however, the Ministry determined that these channels carried out “extremist activities,” classifying them as a location for “extremist formation.”

The purpose of categorizing the Telegram channels means that criminal proceedings can be brought against anyone who engages in the site, including users and content creators. Previous attempts to quash the use of the sites came from authorities taking reprisals against people who showed dissent to the election result online. The new restrictions could lead to people in violation facing up to seven years in prison simply from being subscribed to one of the platforms.

Using the sites to spread imagery of excessive force by police during the election protest was found to be akin to a “group of people carrying our similar activities… as an extremist organization,” according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Further German site, Deutsche Welle, and the Novy Chas newspaper can no longer be accessed in Belarus for similar reasons to Telegram, in a bid to control civil output and media influence on protestors.