Kairys to renew proposal for media support linked to AI disruption

Liberal parliamentarian Simonas Kairys will resubmit a revised proposal allowing Lithuania’s Media Support Fund to support media outlets facing financial losses caused by artificial intelligence and digital platforms, LRT reported.

The Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament, rejected amendments proposing the measure during its spring session. If approved, the fund could finance a programme supporting the media sector’s adaptation and transformation in response to artificial intelligence and digital platforms.

Kairys said artificial intelligence platforms were fundamentally changing the information market, as people increasingly obtained information from those platforms rather than directly from media outlets.

He said the platforms used media content without providing financial returns to the organisations that produced it. Traditional media business models were also weakening as advertising revenue shifted to large corporations and their platforms, including Meta, YouTube and Google.

Kairys also pointed to a sharp decline, particularly on English-language websites, in the number of users reaching news portals through search engines such as Google. He said Lithuanian media outlets would also feel the effects of this trend.

The proposed programme could support media organisations adapting to the artificial intelligence era, digitising archives and integrating technology to make content suitable for artificial intelligence platforms.

Kairys said political intervention was needed to protect access to objective information, which he described as an essential feature of a free and democratic country. He warned that without support for professional and high-quality media, artificial intelligence platforms could increasingly be filled with manipulative information unrelated to the truth.

He said the platforms learned from users’ questions and the material uploaded to them, while traditional media continued to operate mainly by providing information directly. A separate funding programme, he argued, would help media organisations adapt technologically and respond to the changed circumstances.

Kairys did not estimate the programme’s total cost, but said he was considering an additional 1 to 2 million euros. He said the Media Support Fund’s council should determine the appropriate allocation of funds.

He also said the government had addressed the fund’s reduced budget by adding 500,000 euros from the Defence Ministry’s budget. Kairys described that as a one-off measure that prevented the budget from falling further rather than increasing it.

Amendments to the Law on Public Information presented by Kairys in May received 47 votes in favour and 41 against at the initial stage. The Seimas returned the initiative to its author for improvement.