Censorship is a topic that just keeps coming up in this blog because too many governments are willing to pass laws that limit people’s freedom of speech. Sometimes, their only goal is to block a certain message out, to keep people in the dark about “inconvenient” views on key issues. At other times, these restrictions to free speech have more protectionist goals: promoting one religion over others, directing political propaganda, etc. Gay rights are also a recurring topic, while countries like Mexico have accepted and legalized gay marriage, other countries like Uganda, have instilled the death penalty for homosexual relationships.

Lithuania on the other hand, is new to this blog, but has been all over the news. I recently came across an article on the Global Post analyzing a piece of legislation that the author of the post incorrectly labeled as new. The legislation is the Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information; it’s not a new law, it was passed in July 2009 and received much opposition at the time, particularly from Amnesty International, and the reasons why it was so highly criticized basically come down to its phrasing and the effects it could have on gay rights. But when reading the Global Post’s partial transcription of the law, it’s hard not to agree with the author’s view that this law shows utmost disrespect for other basic human rights as well.

The law restricts public dissemination of information that could be deemed unfit for minors under the age of 18. Among those inappropriate topics it includes information which:

• “Promotes bad eating and hygiene habits and lack of physical exercise”
• “Displays a mass hypnosis session aimed at affecting the mass media audience”
• “Is of an erotic nature”
• “Promotes sexual intercourse”
• “Arouses fear or horror”
• “Encourages gambling, encourages and suggests participation in the games of chance, lotteries and other games that imply easy win”

So, basically, what the Lithuanian government seems to want is for children growing up in Lithuania to live in a bubble. But just when I thought the law couldn’t get any more restrictive, I read the law’s classification of public information about homosexuality and bisexuality, which according to this law, is comparable to information that portrays physical or psychological violence and the display of dead bodies.

One clause of the law seeks to ban materials that “agitate for homosexual, bisexual and polygamous relations” from schools, public places and media where they could be viewed by children, on the grounds that they would have a “detrimental effect on the development of minors.”

Amnesty International condemned the law on the count that it “institutionalizes homophobia and violates the right to freedom of expression and the right to be free from discrimination”, and that it “could be used to prohibit any legitimate discussion of homosexuality and impede the work of human rights defenders.” The organization further sustains that, "Far from protecting children, the law deprives young people of their right to freedom of expression and access to information and risks isolating children who are already amongst the most at risk of violence at school or within the family."

Related posts
Children’s Rights
Free Speech, Freedom of Religion, and Sex Ed in England