Lithuania: Media freedom groups warn LRT audit risks threatening…

Lithuania: Media freedom groups warn LRT audit risks threatening editorial independence

The undersigned international media freedom and journalist groups today raise concerns over a planned “political neutrality” audit recently approved by the supervisory body of the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) and warn that the measure could negatively affect editorial independence at the public broadcaster.

Our organisations jointly question the need for such an action by the LRT Council and warn that rather than improve political neutrality it could instead lead to self-censorship by journalists and management at the broadcaster. As press freedom organisations working at the EU level, we note that this specific type of internal audit procedure into political neutrality would have little precedence, posing serious questions over its purpose and motive.

The LRT Council voted in favour of conducting the audit in December 2024 and tasked the LRT’s internal auditor to assess the adherence of journalists working at the broadcaster to principles of political neutrality in news reporting, content creation and management. Plans for the audit moved forward in February, though few details have so far been made public.

After assessing the proposal, on a practical level our organisations are concerned about both the scope and feasibility of such an audit, as well as under what specific methodology and criteria it would be carried out, in what form potential issues would be reported, what potential outcomes or repercussions there could be for staff, and what options there would be for appeals against accusations of political bias. Overall, the audit risks increasing pressures on journalists, potentially leading to self-censorship and potentially eroding editorial independence.

Furthermore, it is our view that the existing self-regulatory mechanisms and oversight bodies in place at LRT are more than sufficient for upholding professional standards. The LRT Act already regulates the political neutrality of the broadcaster; the Code of Ethics for Public Information likewise provides guidelines for journalistic neutrality; and the LRT self-regulatory journalists’ ethics commission offers an adequate mechanism for addressing such issues internally.

These same concerns have already been expressed across the journalistic community in Lithuania, including from the Association of Professional Journalists, the Chair of the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union, the Director General of LRT, and a group of 60 journalists working at the broadcaster, as well as members of the LRT Council themselves, including its own Chair. Concerns have even been raised about such an audit from LRT’s Head of the Internal Audit Service, who has recommended that the Council should not move forward with the procedure.

We further note with concern that the recent meeting of the LRT Council with LRT journalists on February 20 was not attended by those individual Council members who initiated and supported the audit, demonstrating a lack of transparency and a bad-faith approach to discussions.

While our organisations do recognise the need for interaction between the LRT Council and the broadcaster it oversees regarding the respect of its legal and ethical obligations, we believe that in its current form the proposed audit represents a misguided and unnecessary approach which could end up doing more harm than good.

We therefore call on the LRT Council to reconsider its proposed audit. The Council should also clearly communicate its motives and all next steps with LRT management and staff and remain open to engagement with national and international journalistic bodies.

Moving forward, our organisations will be sending our statement to the Office of the President of Lithuania, the Ministry of Culture and to the LRT Council to raise these concerns directly. We continue to support strong and independent public broadcasting in Lithuania and will continue to monitor the situation closely in the coming months and respond to further developments.

Signed by:

International Press Institute (IPI)
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

This statement was coordinated by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States, Candidate Countries and Ukraine.

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Lithuania: Joint letter from mediafreedom organisations

Draft amendment to Lithuanian law on national radio and television threatens public broadcaster’s funding model

Today OBCT joins the International and European Federation of journalists (IFJ-EFJ) and other mediafreedom organisations in writing to the authorities in Lithuania, urging them to open consultation and discussion with LRT and ensure that any changes to the funding model will maintain guarantees that LRT is fully funded and able to fulfil its mandate.

25 June 2024

To:

Office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, kanceliarija@prezidentas.lt

Ms Vikorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, pirmininko.sekretoriatas@lrs.lt

Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, via Ms Vaida Servetkienė, Director of Document Department, Acting Secretary General of the Seimas

Members of the Committee on Culture of the Seimas, via Ms Agnė Jonaitienė, Head of the Committee Burau

Members of the Committee on Budget and Finance of the Seimas, via Committee Bureau

Mr Mindaugas Lingė, Chair of the Committee on Budget and Finance

Ms Ieva Ulčickaitė, Chief Advisor to the President

Mr Frederikas Jansonas, Chief Advisor to the to the President on Communications

Subject: Draft amendment to Lithuanian law on national radio and television threatens public broadcaster’s funding model

The International and European Federation of journalists (IFJ-EFJ), together with the International Press Institute (IPI) are concerned about the draft amendment to the Lithuanian Law on National Radio and Television (LRT) submitted by Mindaugas Lingė, Member of Parliament, on 14 June 2002. The draft seriously threatens the public broadcaster’s funding model.

The current LRT law guarantees that its budget should never fall below its 2019 level. The proposed amendment seeks to abandon this crucial provision and replace it with a mechanism that would limit the growth of LRT’s budget.

The draft was submitted without prior consultation with the public broadcaster. As stated in Article 5(3) of the newly adopted European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), funding procedures should be based on “transparent and objective criteria laid down in advance”. The submission of such changes without informing and consulting the public broadcaster reinforces our concerns about the future of the broadcaster.

The proposed abolition of the minimum funding threshold undermines the long term sustainability of LRT, compromising its independence and reducing its ability to fulfil its mandate.

The amendment is being justified as necessary in order to redirect funds to increase Lithuania’s defence spending. Raising a defence budget must not come at the cost of undermining institutions essential for the preservation of Lithuania’s democracy, including public broadcasting.

As a public media service, LRT must be adequately funded to fulfil its mission, to evolve in line with rapid technological and social change and to ensure adequate preparedness for uninterrupted broadcasting in times of emergency. Moreover, the public service media’s role in combatting disinformation is also vital for the protection against information warfare.

We urge the authorities to engage in open consultation and discussion with LRT to ensure that any changes to the funding model will maintain guarantees that LRT is fully funded and able to fulfil its public service remit.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue. We remain at your disposal for any further information or assistance.

Signed by:

Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

Anthony Bellanger, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

Chiara Sighele, Programme Manager, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT)

Scott Griffen, Interim Executive Director, International Press Institute (IPI)

Andreas Lamm, Interim Managing Director, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

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Lithuania: State Data Protection Inspectorate (SDPI) must not obstruct…

Lithuania: State Data Protection Inspectorate (SDPI) must not obstruct journalistic activity in the country

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and partner organisations have written to Director Raimondas Andrijauskas and Deputy Director Danguolė Morkūnienė of the Lithuanian State Data Protection Inspectorate (SDPI)’s to express concern at their attempted obstruction of investigative project “Karštos Pėdos” (“Hot Feet”)’s journalistic activity.

Dear Director Andrijauskas,

Dear Deputy Director Morkūnienė,

We, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and partner organisations, are writing to denounce the administrative harassment of “Karštos Pėdos” (“Hot Feet”). We call on the State Data Protection Inspectorate (SDPI) to stop pressuring and obstructing the journalistic project’s activities, to abide by the limits to its authority as defined in domestic law and to respect the letter and spirit of EU Regulation 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR).

Karštos Pėdos is a platform launched in autumn 2020 that is part of a transparency initiative co-funded by the European Commission and implemented by Media4Change in collaboration with Investigative Journalism Centre Siena. It visualises links between politically exposed persons in Lithuania and government spending, making use of datasets comprising declarations of interest of public persons, public procurement statistics and EU funding data, which are all publicly available.

Since late 2020, the SDPI has been attempting to inspect Karštos Pėdos. The investigation was initiated through a series of correspondence, in which the SDPI has been requesting a host of information to show that the project is not violating GDPR and the Law on Legal Protection of Personal Data. The SDPI ordered to provide data protection impact assessment, records of processing activities and documentation that data subjects of concern have been notified of their data processing, among other things.

From the outset, the team behind Karštos Pėdos have been arguing that the GDPR does not apply to journalists to the full extent. We share their view that in line with the derogations provided under the Regulation, Karštos Pėdos is not obliged to provide all the requested information as the information in their platform complies with the journalistic exemption Lithuania’s framework should provide according to the GDPR. Moreover, pursuant to Article 7 of the Law on Legal Protection of Personal Data, the SDPI lacks the authority to monitor the application of data protection laws to the processing of personal data for journalistic purposes, which instead lies with the Inspector of Journalistic Ethics. In June 2021, following a request by Media4Change, the Office of the Inspector of Journalistic Ethics confirmed in a letter that Karštos Pėdos is considered a journalistic activity. It is our understanding that despite being informed of the Office of the Inspector of Journalistic Ethics’ position, the SDPI has ignored it and has not involved the Office. In November 2021, moreover, the SDPI escalated the proceedings by proposing the imposition of an administrative fine for failing to provide the requested information in violation of data protection laws.

We concur with the Office of the Inspector of Journalistic Ethics and with the project team that Karštos Pėdos’s activities and content available are in line with journalist purposes serving the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the Law on Legal Protection of Personal Data, the SDPI is not authorised to inspect or to impose fines on Karštos Pėdos. We further recall that the GDPR obliges the Member States to reconcile the right to protection of personal data with the right to freedom of expression and information. Accordingly, we call on the SDPI to stop pressuring and attempting to obstruct the activities of Karštos Pėdos.