Lithuanian opposition lawmaker Daiva Ulbinaitė of the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats on Monday registered a package of information defence bills that would criminalise the dissemination of disinformation.
The proposed amendments define disinformation and establish administrative and criminal liability for spreading it, while giving state institutions broader powers to respond to “information attacks”.
The legislation would also ban the use of automated “SIM swarms” – systems that employ large numbers of SIM cards to send or receive phone calls and text messages – for the purpose of spreading false information.
In addition, social media platforms would be required to cooperate with Lithuanian authorities and remove harmful content deemed dangerous to national security.
Ulbinaitė said the legislative package is intended to provide real tools for institutions to counter “information warfare” and punish those who spread false information aimed at undermining national security or the constitutional order.
“To defend ourselves against geopolitical threats, Kremlin provocations and various hybrid attacks, we have closed our borders and increased our defence budget,” Ulbinaitė said. “But in the information war, we have been fighting for a long time without even the most basic legal instruments. Today we are correcting that by fulfilling the constitutional obligation to criminalise disinformation as a crime.”
Johanas Baltrimas, an associate professor at Vilnius University’s Faculty of Law, said the wording of the amendments appears “well balanced” and capable of ensuring a proportionate defence against “information attacks”.
Dainius Radzevičius, Lithuania’s journalist ethics inspector, said it is crucial to have tools that allow authorities to stop the spread of false information quickly.
Darius Kuliešius, deputy chairman of the Communications Regulatory Authority, also voiced support for the initiative.
“We contributed by drafting and proposing amendments to the Codes of Electronic Communications and Administrative Offenses to prohibit the use of technical equipment required for SIM bots and SIM swarms,” Kuliešius said.
According to data from the National Cyber Security Centre, nearly 3,900 cyber incidents were recorded in Lithuania last year, a 63-percent increase from 2023, while the number of systemic vulnerabilities also rose.
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