{"id":8857,"date":"2017-03-20T15:43:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T15:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/"},"modified":"2024-02-16T15:37:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T15:37:56","slug":"another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Attempt at Media Censorship in Lithuania Fails After Public Outcry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MPs belonging to the Farmers and Greens Union proposed legally obliging the Lithuanian media to publish &#8220;positive&#8221; and &#8220;negative&#8221; information in equal parts.<\/p>\n<p>Dovil\u0117 \u0160akalien\u0117, Zenonas Streikus and Robert \u0160arknickas, members of the ruling coalition in Parliament, gave quite a fright to Lithuanian journalists with their proposal to put into law that at least 50 percent of all published media content be comprised of &#8220;positive&#8221; information.<\/p>\n<p>Such information in the media would have to be put &#8220;at the start informational programs or the first few pages of any publication.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Too much negative info on politicians?<\/h3>\n<p>The explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill states that corruption, abuse of power and other problems &#8220;often find their way into the media spotlight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to the bill\u2019s drafters, this &#8220;contributes to the public feeling disappointed in public authorities and becoming detached from political life, as well as promoting distrust in the media and the information it publishes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The drafters argued that their amendments would also help to protect the public&#8217;s mental health.<\/p>\n<h3>Bill will &#8216;help the media&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ltnews.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3570 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ltnews.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"726\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ltnews.png 2915w, https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ltnews-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ltnews-1024x730.png 1024w, https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ltnews-768x547.png 768w, https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ltnews-1536x1095.png 1536w, https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ltnews-2048x1460.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 726px) 100vw, 726px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When members of the media expressed their outrage that this was an attempt to introduce censorship, the bill\u2019s drafters were unfazed and didn\u2019t drop the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>According to one of them, MP Dovil\u0117 \u0160akalien\u0117, the law <a href=\"http:\/\/www.15min.lt\/naujiena\/aktualu\/lietuva\/dovile-sakaliene-jei-pataisos-del-ziniasklaidos-sulauks-tik-pasipriesinimo-jas-atsiimsiu-56-770200\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">doesn\u2019t aim<\/a> to censor, but rather &#8220;help the media publish more positive content alongside negative information, as well as to &#8220;help journalists wishing to report more positive information.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She further claimed that this was also an attempt to pre-empt even more radical proposals to limit the media that she heard about from her colleagues in Parliament.<\/p>\n<h3>Disowning another attack on media freedom<\/h3>\n<p>The bill was scrapped only after it became the object of a heated discussion in public. Furthermore, the MPs that proposed it then went on to claim that they weren&#8217;t the ones who had drafted it \u2013 the bill, they said, was \u201cborrowed\u201d from a former MP, who drafted the amendment but never submitted it for parliamentary consideration.<\/p>\n<p>The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania prohibits media censorship and guarantees its freedom. Media freedom is further protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees that the media has wide rights to publish information that is important to the public.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first (failed) attempt by current MPs to restrict the media in some form: At the end of 2016, MPs proposed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.liberties.eu\/en\/news\/lithuania-parliament-restricts-media-freedom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">amending the Civil Code<\/a> to hold journalists liable for defamation for publishing inaccurate information concerning a public person, even in cases where that journalist did so with good intentions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MPs belonging to the Farmers and Greens Union proposed legally obliging the Lithuanian media to publish &#8220;positive&#8221; and &#8220;negative&#8221; information in equal parts. Dovil\u0117 \u0160akalien\u0117, Zenonas Streikus and Robert \u0160arknickas, members of the ruling coalition in Parliament, gave quite a fright to Lithuanian journalists with their proposal to put into law that at least 50 &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Another Attempt at Media Censorship in Lithuania Fails After Public Outcry<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":9655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[162],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Another Attempt at Media Censorship in Lithuania Fails After Public Outcry - \u017dmogaus teisi\u0173 steb\u0117jimo institutas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Another Attempt at Media Censorship in Lithuania Fails After Public Outcry - \u017dmogaus teisi\u0173 steb\u0117jimo institutas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MPs belonging to the Farmers and Greens Union proposed legally obliging the Lithuanian media to publish &#8220;positive&#8221; and &#8220;negative&#8221; information in equal parts. Dovil\u0117 \u0160akalien\u0117, Zenonas Streikus and Robert \u0160arknickas, members of the ruling coalition in Parliament, gave quite a fright to Lithuanian journalists with their proposal to put into law that at least 50 &hellip; Another Attempt at Media Censorship in Lithuania Fails After Public Outcry Read More &raquo;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u017dmogaus teisi\u0173 steb\u0117jimo institutas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HRMI.LT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-20T15:43:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-16T15:37:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/show_cancelled_tv_mouth_shut_rights_satire_ngo.png_effected-001.png.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"390\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deimant\u0117 Ju\u0161\u010di\u016bt\u0117\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deimant\u0117 Ju\u0161\u010di\u016bt\u0117\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Deimant\u0117 Ju\u0161\u010di\u016bt\u0117\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/#\/schema\/person\/892e372bade860878571028f96ab03a9\"},\"headline\":\"Another Attempt at Media Censorship in Lithuania Fails After Public Outcry\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-20T15:43:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-16T15:37:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/\"},\"wordCount\":438,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"[:en]freedom of expression[:lt]freedom of expression[:]\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrmi.lt\/en\/another-attempt-at-media-censorship-in-lithuania-fails-after-public-outcry\/\",\"name\":\"Another Attempt at Media Censorship in Lithuania Fails After Public Outcry - 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