Decision to Block Sputnik Legitimized

On Friday, Vilnius District Administrative Court sanctioned the decision of the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania [lit. Lietuvos radijo ir televizijos komisija, LRTK; TN] to block the Lithuanian web portal of the Russian news agency Sputnik over copyright infringement

According to the Chairman of LRTK, Mr. Mantas Martišius, Internet Service Providers will have to block the internet domain of sputniknews.lt within five days.

According to [LRTK, TN], the Lithuanian website of Sputnik has published almost 1,500 LRT.lt articles without the consent of this Lithuanian public broadcaster.

Last year, Lithuanian intelligence reported that Sputnik is one of Russia’s propaganda instruments.

The watchdog’s representatives ensure that the decision is not related to Sputnik’s contents.