Stryzhak: I was not Canceled

Andrei Stryzhak. Video screenshot: freekuhar / YouTube

Andrei Stryzhak has been involved in human rights activities since 2007. He was one of the organizers of the ByCovid19 campaign and the BY_help initiative, and later a co-founder of the BYSOL Solidarity Foundation. In July 2025, Stryzhak was accused of sending unwanted dickpics to women. The story sparked an active discussion among the Belarusian diaspora. There were calls for Stryzhak's complete isolation. As a result, he was forced to leave the foundation.

In the new episode of the project «Перетрем с Халезиным» (Let's Chat with Khalezin), returning to his story, Stryzhak noted that he was not completely erased from the public sphere, although many influencers wanted him to be.

"Society owes nothing to anyone. It will act as it decides. (...) And I can say for sure, as I will continue my thesis: the canceling did not happen."

Stryzhak believes that his case forced many to rethink their approaches to similar actions.

"Because it's one thing when it comes to, for example, a person external to Belarusian society, like J.K. Rowling or someone else. Then we see it like this: 'Well, that's somewhere far away.' Like, maybe, I don't know, I won't bother to figure out if she's right or wrong, that writer, I'll just calmly read 'Harry Potter,' watch the movies, and that's it.

But here, the situation directly concerns you, because many people were somehow involved in helping various projects that I created alone or with colleagues. And this became much closer. And people started thinking: 'Ah, so this means, probably, it's not such a simple story with all these cancelings and everything else.'"

What about the institution of reputation?

Speaking about the public reaction to his new initiative, Stryzhak notes:

"As usual, some part of people will take everything you do with hostility – well, they perceived it that way before, to be frank. And in many ways, these are the same people, meaning the qualitative and quantitative composition hasn't changed much. Some part of people will look primarily at the usefulness of the product and its relevance to their requests. And some part of society simply won't notice it, as before."

Reflecting on reputation, Andrei Stryzhak identifies two approaches to its formation.

"The first approach is the sum of everything a person does. And you orient yourself. So, he has, I don't know, 30% cringe, 70% cool things. And you look: is it 30 to 70, or 50 to 50, or even 60 to 40.

Moreover, actions, misdemeanors, they are not equivalent. They can have completely different values and different impacts on society, on a specific person.

The second approach is the institution of reputation in the sense that is now becoming fashionable: that a person can do good deeds all their life, then one misstep — and that's it, they are excluded."

He considers this second approach irrational and harmful, because life is not linear, norms change:

"In the future, it might turn out that some things you did then, which were part of the norm, will cease to be part of the norm. (...) Some things, over time, become not only unacceptable but even criminal. But at the moment they were committed, it was absolutely acceptable to society. (...)

Everything must be assessed comprehensively. Not by one single act, but by a large volume of actions. The institution of reputation and reputation itself are not one-time things. It's something you earn or lose throughout your life."

"The Price of Public Activism"

Stryzhak reflects that in many professional and public groups — from actors to civic activists — there is a high degree of insularity. Pressure, attention, and external threats lead people to constantly circulate within a narrow circle. Codes and rules can be created, but in his opinion, life will still put everything in its place.

"The situation with me led to absolutely no changes within the sector; I am completely sure of this. In other words, everything remained as it was. (...)

Conclusions may have been drawn, but the situation did not fundamentally change. Because, for example, people who are now in emigration, who are under colossal pressure from special services, from ill-wishers, and others – they will still be simmering in the same pot, and such conflicts will, one way or another, continue to arise in the future."

Stryzhak believes that his case, like other conflicts, should be seen as part of the price paid by people involved in civic and human rights activism.

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