Public Information Policy

The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania prohibits censorship and monopolisation of the mass media (Article 44), guarantees freedom of expression and lays down the limits of exercising freedom of expression (Article 25).

The Ministry of Culture, being an institution authorised by the Government in the field of provision of information to the public, aims at ensuring adherence to the principles set out in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, international and European Union documents, and creating the conditions for the diversity and quality of mass media, as well as independence and transparency of public information processes.

By Resolution No. 342 of 29 March 2001, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania assigned the Ministry of Culture to carry out the functions of an institution authorised by the Government in the field of provision of information to the public. The powers of the ministry in this field are defined in Article 45 of the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public. The ministry shall perform the following functions:

• summarise the practice of application of laws and other legal acts governing the provision of information to the public and submit proposals regarding the drafting of laws and other legal acts as well as amending and supplementing of the effective legal acts;

• in cooperation with organisations of producers and disseminators of public information, draft laws and other legal acts proposed by the Government in the field of provision of information to the public;

• in cooperation with other institutions and organisations operating in the field of provision of information to the public, implement the provisions of treaties of the Republic of Lithuania related to the provision of information to the public;

• provide information and methodological assistance on the issues of provision of information to the public;

• organise conferences, seminars and practical trainings relating to the issues of provision of information to the public;

• cooperate with relevant foreign institutions and international organisations operating in the field of provision of information to the public;

• carry out other functions pertaining to the provision of information to the public assigned to it by this law and other laws.

Legislation. The principal law governing the activity of public information is the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public. This Law establishes the procedure for collecting, producing, publishing and disseminating public information and the rights, duties and liability of producers and disseminators of public information, their participants, journalists and institutions regulating their activities.

The Ministry of Culture is one of the institutions responsible for the implementation of the Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information. This law establishes the criteria of the public information that has detrimental effect on minors’ physical, mental and moral development, the procedure of its publication and dissemination, and the rights, duties and liability of the producers, disseminators and owners of such information, as well as journalists and the institutions which regulate their activities.

Inter-institutional action plan of journalists. Ministry of Culture approved an inter-institutional 2023-2025 action plan for the protection, safety and empowerment of journalists. Public institutions together with the media community made specific commitments in order to increase the safety of journalists that focus on a range of different issues.

Indication and verification of circulation. Pursuant to Article 36(2) of the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public and Point 1.3 of Resolution No. 1677 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 24 November 2010, Order No. ĮV-216 as of 30 March 2015 approved the Description of the Procedure of Verification of Circulation of Local, Regional and National Newspapers and Magazines, except for Those Whose Circulation Does Not Exceed 500 Copies and/or Which Contain No Advertising (hereinafter referred to as the “Description of the Procedure of Circulation Verification”). In accordance with the established procedure publishers must provide data on the circulation of their published newspaper or magazine for the previous half-year to the Ministry of Culture twice a year, i.e. by10 January and by 10 July, by filling in the approved form.

Failure to indicate circulation in the publication or false indication of circulation, as well as violation of the procedure for the specification of other publishing details set forth in the Lithuanian standard and/or failure to indicate the international document standard number (ISBN, ISSN, ISMN) gives rise to administrative liability – a fine from EUR 144 to EUR 579 (a fine from EUR 150 to EUR 570 as of 01.01.2017), and in the case of repeated infringement – a fine from EUR 579 to EUR 1448 (a fine from EUR 550 to EUR 1500 as of 01.01.2017).

It should be noted that the Republic of Lithuania Code of Administrative Offences, which becomes effective as of 1 January 2017, provides for additional administrative liability for the violations of the Description of the Procedure of Circulation Verification. Article 135(5)(6) of the Code of Administrative Offences lays down the amounts of fine for the above violation: from EUR 300 to EUR 860, and in the case of repeated infringement – a fine from EUR 900 to EUR 1700.

The data on publication circulation (from the first half-year of 2012) and the participants of the media provided to the Ministry of Culture are made public in the Database of Producers and Disseminators of Public Information (hereinafter referred to as the “Database”) available on the website of the Ministry of Culture.

Data on the producers of public information and their participants. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 24 of the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public, all legal entities who are publishers of local, regional or national newspapers and magazines or managers of the information society media, with the exception of state and municipal institutions and agencies, banks, political parties, who publish non-periodical informational publications and/or have the information society media intended to inform the public of their activities, must submit to the Ministry of Culture the data on their participants who have the right of ownership to or control at least 10 per cent of all the shares or assets (where the assets are not share-based) and inform of the revised data if they change. The data must be submitted by filling in the data form (see above), approved by Order No. ĮV-46 of the Minister of Culture of 24 January 2011, which specifies the following:

• the data on their participants who have the right of ownership to or control at least 10 per cent of all the shares or assets (where the assets are not share-based);

• management bodies and their members;

• information about property relations and/or joint activity linking them with other producers and/or disseminators of public information and/or their participants.

Where the participants of the legal entities are legal entities registered in the Republic of Lithuania or in a foreign state, the participants of such entities must also be indicated.

The Ministry publishes received data on its website not later than within 15 days from the date of receipt thereof.

Public information producers started submitting data about their participants, property relations and/or joint activity to the Ministry of Culture on 1 January 2002, after the Procedure for Submission of Data on Public Information Producers, Disseminators and Their Owners and Publication of This Data in the Supplement Information Notices to the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, approved by Order No. 382 of the Minister of Culture of 22 November 2001, came into force. Declaration of data on public information producers, disseminators or their participants has intensified since 2006. In 2007, this number was 144, in 2008 – 191, in 2009 – 293, in 2010 – 340. Currently, the Database contains the data of about 542 public information producers and/or disseminators.

Data on the owners of mass media (2012)
Data on the owners of mass media (2011)
Data on the owners of mass media (2010)
Data on the owners of mass media (2009)
Data on the owners of mass media (2008)
Data on the owners of mass media (2007)
Data on the owners of mass media (2006)
Data on the owners of mass media (2005)
Data on the owners of mass media (2004)
Data on the owners of mass media (2003)
Data on the owners of mass media (2002)

If public information producers fail to submit the data on their participants, property relations and/or joint activity to the Ministry of Culture,they are deprived of the right to receive state support through the (Public Institution) Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation for cultural and educational programmes.

Failure to submit the above data will be considered an administrative offence as of 1 January 2017, for which the managers or other responsible persons of legal entities will be fined from EUR 300 to EUR 860, and in the case of repeated infringement – fined from EUR 900 to EUR 1700 (Article 136 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

The information on media publishers is currently also available in the Database of Lithuanian Publishers. Data on printings, non-book material and e-resources in physical media received during the year from Lithuanian publishers on the basis of a legal deposit are published in the Bulletin Statistics of Lithuanian Press, annually prepared by Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.

The National Bibliographic Data Bank (NBDB) accumulated by Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania registers all newspapers, magazines and bulletins. According to the data of 1 January 2016, NBDB contains over 2 974 380 bibliographic records of national current, national retrospective and Lituanica documents. They include (since 2003) over 2 677 420 bibliographic records of serial publications (magazines, newspapers, series, almanacs, research papers and other collections), monographs, audio records, the component parts of e-resources (articles).

The legal deposit of printingsand other documents. Pursuant to Article 36(3) of the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public, on 22 November 1996, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania passed Resolution No. 1389 “On the number of legal deposit documents and their delivery to libraries”, whereby it lays down that public information producers shall, within two days from the issue of non-classified document circulation exceeding 100 copies (in the case of Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania – circulation exceeding 25 copies), deliver the respective number of legal deposit documents free of charge to the following six Lithuanian libraries: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Kaunas County Public Library, Vilnius University Library, the Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the Lithuanian Library for the Blind, and the Lithuanian Technical Library. Violation of this procedure shall also give rise to administrative liability – a fine from EUR 86 to EUR 289 (a fine from EUR 80 to EUR 300 as of 01.01.2017), and in the case of repeated infringement – a fine from EUR 289 to EUR 868 (a fine from EUR 300 to EUR 860 as of 01.01.2017).

Regulatory and self-regulatory bodies governing activities of producers and disseminators of public information. In implementing and coordinating national public information policy, the Ministry of Culture cooperates with institutions operating in the field of public information and carrying out related supervision, as well as with other participants of the public information sector.

The Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania is an independent body accountable to the Seimas which regulates and controls activities of broadcasters of radio and/or television programmes and providers of on-demand audiovisual media services falling under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as supervises activities of re-broadcasters operating in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania and other persons providing the users of the Republic of Lithuania with the service of the dissemination of television programmes and/or individual programmes via the Internet. The Commission participates in the formation of national audiovisual policy. It acts as an expert body for the Seimas and the Government on issues of broadcasting and re-broadcasting of radio and television programmes, dissemination of television programmes and/or individual programmes via the Internet and on-demand audiovisual media services. The Commission was established in 1996 upon coming into effect of the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public.

Two other institutions: the Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics (the Inspector of Journalist Ethics) and the Association of Ethics in the Provision of Information to the Public (the Commission of Ethics in the Provision of Information to the Public) also play an important role in the field of provision of information to the public.

The Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics is a state budgetary body which ensures the activities of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics. The Inspector is a state official authorised to examine the complaints and applications of the persons concerned whose honour and dignity have been degraded in the media, also the complaints and applications of the persons concerned in relation to violation of their right to protection of privacy in the media, violation of processing of their personal data in the media; assess compliance with the principles of provision of information to the public set forth in the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public and other laws in providing information to the public and submit proposals to state institutions for improving the implementation thereof; on the basis of the conclusions of experts, assign the media and/or their content to the categories of information of erotic, pornographic and/or violent nature, and establish whether public information published in the media incites discord on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, race, nationality, language, origin, social status, belief, convictions or views. Within the scope of his remit, the Inspector of Journalist Ethics exercises supervision over implementation of the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information, carries out monitoring of public information in the media, except for monitoring of radio and television programmes (which is carried out by the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania).

The Association of Ethics in the Provision of Information to the Public (hereinafter referred to as the “Association”) is a self-regulatory body of public information producers, disseminators, journalists and other participants of the media sector, which seeks to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Code of Ethics in Providing Information to the Public (hereinafter referred to as the “Code”), foster principles of ethics in the provision of information to the public in public information activities and raise public awareness for evaluation of public information processes and use of public information. The Association consists of organisations uniting public information producers, disseminators and journalists, with the norms of the Code applying to the activities of the members of such organisations: the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union, the Society of Lithuanian Journalists, the Association of Internet Media, the Lithuanian Radio and Television Association, the Association of Regional Television, the Lithuanian Cable Television Association, the National Regional and City Newspaper Publishers Association. New members may be accepted to the Association in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Statutes of the Association. The Commission of Ethics in the Provision of Information to the Public takes decisions on behalf of the Association.

The Lithuanian National Radio and Television (hereinafter referred to as “LRT”) is a public body belonging to the State by the right of ownership. The Republic of Lithuania Law on the Lithuanian National Radio and Television regulates the procedure of establishing, managing, operation, reorganisation and liquidation of LRT, its rights, duties and liability. The activities of a public broadcaster are also based on the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public. LRT has to collect and disseminate information on Lithuania and the world; show to the public the diversity of the European and global culture and the basics of modern civilisation; strengthen the independence and democracy of the Republic of Lithuania; create, cherish and preserve national cultural values; nurture tolerance and humanism, the culture of cooperation, thinking and language; strengthen public morality and public spirit; develop the country’s ecological culture. LRT is financed from the state budget and has the right to earn commercial revenues from other legal activities. Advertising and audiovisual commercial communications have been prohibited in LRT radio and television programmes since 1 January 2015, except for communications of support of cultural and sports events and/or their broadcasting and cases when LRT must broadcast advertising and audiovisual commercial communications following its contractual obligations regarding acquisition or granting of rights of broadcasting of international events. The highest LRT body that represents public interests is the LRT Council. It is formed for the term of 6 years and consists of 12 members: public, scientific and cultural figures.

The State partially finances the projects of producers of public information in the fields of culture, security of provision of information to the public and media literacy education as well as educational projects through the public institution, the Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the “Foundation”). State’s partial financial support for public information producers according to the applications submitted to the Foundation is provided in accordance with the General Tender Regulations for State Partial Financial Support for Cultural and Educational Projects Based on the Applications Submitted to the Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation approved by Resolution No. 1190 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 31 October 2007. Each year the Foundation publishes its annual activity report in the press, while the chairman of the Council of the Foundation each year presents the annual report on the allocation and use of the budgetary appropriations at a plenary meeting of the Seimas.

The Law on the Provision of Information to the Public stipulates that a producer of public information who is considered to have committed a serious professional misconduct may not be granted state support (Article 27(4)). This Law has established the concept of a serious professional misconduct as of 01.10.2015: the producer and/or disseminator of public information in respect of whom a fine or other sanctions provided for in this Law are imposed in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law for the violation of paragraph 1, 2 and/or 3 of Article 19 of this Law shall, for a period of one year since the last committed violation, be considered a producer and/or disseminator of public information who has committed a serious professional misconduct.

More information:
Deividas Velkas ([email protected], +370 680 45 993).