Stsiapan Putsila, 27, who set up NEXTA while studying at the University of Silesia in Poland, was speaking after receiving an award from Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on the occasion of Freedom Day, a national holiday observed by Belarusians in exile.
"We receive many threats from the regimes of Lukashenko and Putin because we stand against them," he said, also citing frequent hacking attempts.
NEXTA – the name means "someone" in Belarusian, reflecting its roots in citizen-submitted content – now operates 16 channels across five languages, including English, German, Polish, Russian and Belarusian.
The outlet claims seven million subscribers and more than 600 million monthly views across platforms.
Putsila said NEXTA is expanding its international reach in part to counter what he described as the spread of Russian propaganda in Europe.
"If we don't stop it, pro-Russian forces will continue to grow," he warned.
The outlet is self-funded through advertising and viewer contributions.
Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus's longtime authoritarian leader, has previously sought Putsila's extradition from Poland, labelling him "an extremist".
(ał)
Source: PolskieRadio24.pl