The digital media in Lithuania: combating disinformation and fake news

Abstract

Based on insights from interviews with communication field experts, the paper sheds light on the efforts of Lithuanian society to confront the problem of fake news in digital media environment. Lithuania is also an interesting case study for fake news due to its status as a former Soviet state now in the EU. Our research indicates that not all media users are prepared and/or have the necessary competencies to combat fake news, so that citizen engagement might actually negatively influence the quality of the counteraction process. Indeed, proactive citizens’ organizations and NGOs could be an important catalyst fostering collaboration between stakeholders. The responsibility of governments could be to create the structures, methodologies and supporting educational activities to involve the stakeholders in collaborating activities combating disinformation.