Reports
Lithuania Monthly: Farmers’ protest in Vilnius city centre
Lithuanian social media buzzed with diverse topics all through the month of January. Social media monitoring tool Awario revealed the most engaging stories, highlighting which one truly resonated with Lithuania’s audiences:
Read more
Lithuania Weekly: Detention of Celofanas
During this reporting week, heated discussions were mainly accelerated by two cases. Firstly, a man carrying a bag with a Wagner group (Russian state-funded militia) badge was detained at Vilnius Airport. While the majority of social media users condemned him for wearing a terrorist badge, others found a way to criticize the officials and Lithuanian police, blaming them for inappropriate behavior or even of violating human rights. Another discussion burst out considering Lithuanians’ willingness to defend the country with a gun, if necessary. Yet again, numerous comments carrying anti-government narrative appeared online.
Read more
Lithuania Weekly: Kidnapping of a girl in Kaunas
During this reporting period, the entire country closely followed an intense drama, namely the search for a missing 9-year-old girl. Fortunately, she has been found alive after a frantic two-day search by officers and hundreds of volunteers. Lithuanian police successfully carried out an operation to free the girl, who was kidnapped and held in a garage in Kaunas. Despite the show of public unity, a well-known anti-government and Kremlin-aligned actor, Antanas Kandrotas (Celofanas [Cellophane]), continued to fuel passions on Lithuanian social networks. Celofanas has repeatedly claimed that he has “non-public information” about the crime and that “police are hiding the real situation”, urging his audience not to trust police officers in general. Right before the victim’s suspected abductor was detained, Celofanas sparked an outpouring of hate by naming and publishing a photograph of a man on Facebook, alleging his involvement in the crime. Turned out that he was not related to the crime at all.
Read more
Lithuania Weekly: Fire in the Viršuliskės Neighbourhood
During this reporting week, the stories from Lithuania’s remaining Kremlin-aligned media outlets that received the most engagement covered domestic issues. These centred around a fire at an apartment building in Vilnius, in which 15 people were rescued and two died. Malign actors quickly linked the event to different conspiracy theories; for example, referring to it as a terrorist attack, claiming that police knew about the bomb but did not stop the approaching accident, or even assuming that Ukrainian refugees may have brought the bomb.
Read moreShowing 77 to 80 of 100 results
Don't miss a story.
We publish stories that change laws, lives, minds and the world. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our investigations delivered to your inbox.