Editing Telecommunications in Lithuania (section)

== Internet censorship ==
There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet [[chat rooms]] without appropriate legal authority. Individuals and groups generally engage in the free expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail, but authorities prosecute people for openly posting material on the Internet that authorities considered to be [[hate speech|inciting hatred]].<ref name="USDOS-CRHRP-Lithuania-2012">[https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204308 "Lithuania"], ''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.</ref>

The constitution provides for [[freedom of speech]] and [[freedom of the press|press]], and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to promote these freedoms. However, the constitutional definition of freedom of expression does not protect certain acts, such as incitement to national, racial, religious, or social hatred, violence and discrimination, or slander, and disinformation. It is a crime to deny or "grossly trivialise" Soviet or Nazi German crimes against Lithuania or its citizens, or to deny genocide, [[crimes against humanity]], or [[war crimes]]. In the first 11 months of 2012 authorities initiated investigations into 259 allegations of incitement of hatred and six of incitement of discrimination, most of them over the Internet. Authorities forwarded 69 of those allegations to the courts for trial, closed 68, and suspended 113 for lack of evidence; the others remained under investigation. Most allegations of incitement of hatred involved racist or [[anti-Semitic]] expression, or hostility based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or nationality.<ref name="USDOS-CRHRP-Lithuania-2012" />

It is a crime to disseminate information that is both untrue and damaging to an individual's honour and dignity. [[Libel]] is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to one year, or up to two years for libellous material disseminated through the mass media. While it is illegal to publish material "detrimental to minors’ bodies" or thought processes, information promoting the sexual abuse and harassment of minors, promoting sexual relations among minors, or "sexual relations", the law is not often invoked and there are no indications that it adversely affects freedom of the media.<ref name="USDOS-CRHRP-Lithuania-2012" />

The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference in an individual's personal correspondence or private and family life, but there were reports that the government did not respect these prohibitions in practice. The law requires authorities to obtain judicial authorisation before searching an individual's premises and prohibits the indiscriminate monitoring by government or other parties of citizens’ correspondence or communications. However, domestic human rights groups allege that the government does not properly enforce the law.<ref name="USDOS-CRHRP-Lithuania-2012" />