A new social media platform and alternative news website, 77.lt, is funded by Lithuanian MEP Viktoras Uspaskichas and his former wife Jolanta Blažytė. Since its inception, the website has attracted people who spread fakes surrounding the Covid pandemic, vaccines, and the war in Ukraine.
Once the website was launched in April, it was promoted by various individuals who had repeatedly spread disinformation. Calling on people to join the network, they said the 77.lt network would be a place without censorship, fact-checkers, and “facts that are not favourable to the system”.
The network operates as part of Cross.social project, which claims to be an “AI-powered uncensored free speech platform”. It is founded by Multiverse, a company based in the Marshall Islands.
Due to it being an off-shore company, its shareholders and owners are not public. However, almost all of the companies and their executives listed as part of the Cross.social community are from Lithuania.
The main public face behind 77.lt is Ugnius Kiguolis, a controversial businessman who built up a following by spreading misinformation during the Covid pandemic.
Kiguolis is also the founder of Petys į Petį (Shoulder to Shoulder), an NGO collecting donations for 77.lt. However, information revealing the link between the NGO and 77.lt is no longer available online and can only be found in the internet archives.
Petys į Petį was established in November 2020 during the Covid pandemic, claiming that it aimed to counterbalance the “unilateral mass media”. The NGO said its website was launched in 2021. According to the public financial reports, the set-up costs were funded by MEP Uspaskichas and his former wife Blažytė.
Edvervita, a company managed by Uspaskichas, who is also the former leader of Lithuania's Labour Party, gave 150,000 euros to the NGO. In 2021, the politician's company gave Petis į Peti another 29,000 euros.
A further 24,600 euros was given to the NGO by a charity and support fund, Viltis-Vikonda, whose shareholders are Blažytė and the Vikonda group.
Over a period of two years, legal entities managed by Uspaskichas and Blažytė gave Petys į Petį close to 200,000 euros. The figures may change once the NGO submits its yearly financial statement, which is late.
In June, Dobilas Sinkevičius, a council member of the Lithuanian Family Movement, became the director of Petys į Petį. For some time, he worked as an assistant to MP Petras Gražulis and was also an editor of the Respublika.lt news website.
All of these entities and figures were connected to the same disinformation network explored in an earlier LRT investigation.
Sinkevičius was previously a member of the election committee of Rolandas Paksas, Lithuania’s former president who was impeached and removed from office due to corruption. In 2019, Sinkevičius also ran for the Marijampolė City Council with the election committee Šaukiam Tauta and was included as a candidate for the Party of Lithuanian Regions.
Meanwhile, Blažytė is an active member of the 77.lt social network, where she posts comments on her account, writing about a “pandemic conspiracy”, the war in Ukraine and the United States.
According to an analysis by LRT, fake profiles form a large part of the network.
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For example, when a new user publishes their first post, five to six other profiles “like” the post at exactly the same time. However, analysis shows they are not genuine profiles – their photos are usually generated by artificial intelligence and they share multiple posts simultaneously on their feeds.
The 77.lt platform functions not only as a social network but also as an alternative news website. However, not all the authors of the texts appear genuine. Such alleged contributors tend to write stories about the war in Ukraine, American politics, and health topics.
The website also lists public figures and Lithuania’s main media outlets as the network’s alleged contributors. For example, 77.lt also lists a profile of President Gitanas Nausėda. Meanwhile, another profile with the same name and surname as the president, but with a different photo, refers users to an investment website.
The president’s office told LRT that Nausėda was not part of the social network.
Andrius Mazuronis, head of the Labour Party, said the party was not connected to the platform, adding that the project was a personal initiative of Uspaskichas, who remains the party’s honorary chairman.
LRT was unable to contact Uspaskichas, Blažyte, Kiguolis, or Sinkevičius for comment.
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