Money tracking: crime and punishment for misinformation

The three officers, who began work on April 6, will respond only to obvious violations of the law committed or anticipated in the electronic space, according to the Police Department.

“These are obvious violations of the law, such as the sale of the same vaccines that are prohibited, the offer to buy drugs, the obvious use of profanity, the insult to another person,” said Commissioner Renatas Požėla.

Some time ago, Justice Minister Evelina Dobrovolska suggested that administrative responsibility could also apply to hate speech. However, the bill was withdrawn soon and will be improved.

Mantas Martišius, a professor at the Vilnius University Faculty of Communication, warned that by applying the Code of Administrative Offenses, a person would lose the presumption of innocence.

“As with the Road Traffic Rules, if a police officer stops you and says that you have violated it, you can challenge it in an administrative court, but you will have to present evidence. T. y. That there was only your opinion, perhaps expressed more bluntly, but no incitement to disagreement, etc. was offered, ”he said.

This is the last part of Delphi’s article cycle on disinformation. In the first part we write about the Russian state media, in the second – about the actors on the margins of the Lithuanian public space, in the third – about why the same themes are repeated both in one place and in another.

Presumption of innocence

M. Martišius explained that the limits of freedom of expression in Lithuania are defined in international documents ratified by the Seimas.

“We have the Constitution, the Penal Code. We have measures that guarantee us and we don’t need to do anything extra. In my opinion, there is a great danger here, because there is a presumption of innocence in the prosecution of everyone. If I accuse you of stealing something, I have to prove it in court. You don’t have to prove you didn’t steal, “he said.

At that time, in the case of an administrative offense, as pointed out by M. Martišius, there is a presumption of guilt.

The interviewer also provided a comparison with the store. “For example, there is Maxima, where sausages and other products are sold. To avoid being taken, there is a security service and if a thief is caught, the security service calls the police to remove him.

Let’s take a very simple look at the public space on the Internet. For example, Delfi is responsible for the texts published by their authors, including anonymous comments. There were even cases in which the found man was subsequently embarrassed by the initiation of the pre-trial persecution for inciting discord.

The question is simple, why should a virtual patrol in a private space, where there are already certain fuses, still have to walk, find what to defend. I do not understand that. Just as the police don’t look to Maxima to keep the hot dogs out, the virtual patrols don’t have to look on Facebook or portals. Everything is already there, we already have laws ”, he explained.

Power goes bad

Donatas Puslys, Director of the Media and Democracy Program at the Vilnius Institute for Political Analysis, recommended raising issues related to freedom of expression with great care.

“It is a question of political philosophy here, because the nuances of how much power we want to give the State begin. Who controls the one who gains the most power? That he will not abuse them, because even the best initiative can turn around, “he said.

According to Mr. Puslis, these initiatives are akin to undermining civil society.

“The fight against disinformation and hate speech is in the hands of the public. It is they who should assume it.” Only a certain ethic can prevail in the environment of people, and then those things become intolerant, “he said.

The interviewee also pointed out that from the hate speech, the regulation could be extended to other areas.

“We can imagine the state as a benevolent mother who will take care of it, but we know that that mother can become an angry stepmother, a tyrant babysitter. Of course, it might be fun for someone to have an immature civil society that they can constantly nurture. Indicate where you can go, where you can’t, what you can buy and what you can’t. What can and cannot be said ”, commented D. Puslys.

He remembered the famous saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

We need trust

D. Puslys summarized that Lithuania needs a long-term policy in the fight against disinformation.

“In order not to lose money in any project competition, some firms, other firms,” ​​promote “public relations, we order articles in regional media, etc. Perhaps that is also fine, but the question is, does anyone measure the impact? or do they have the instruments to measure it?

Such provocative actions serve more to justify to the customer that they are doing something than to have a real impact. The real impact requires a long-term strategy, tools to measure the impact, such as sociological surveys, ”he said.

For those who spread disinformation, according to D. Puslis, it is usually enough to place oneself in the position of intermediary.

As Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherallis write in The Misinformation Age, it is enough that the disseminators of disinformation stand in the position of mediators between scientific knowledge and knowledge that reaches the audience. So they can distort, add all sorts of nonsense, etc. “, He said.

Puslys emphasized that reaching the most difficult-to-reach audiences required a relationship with them based on trust.

“Sometimes there is no such connection, because you represent the elite in their eyes, then you will achieve nothing. That is why it is so important to reach out to local leaders with whom you can hope to have an impact by having a better relationship with that group of people.” , He said.