Lithuanian politician shares doctored protest photo to mock female demonstrator

A prominent Lithuanian opposition figure has been accused of spreading disinformation after sharing a doctored image of a protester to ridicule her, state broadcaster LRT reports.

Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the conservative party Nemuno aušra (Dawn of Nemunas), posted an altered photo on social media from Saturday’s protest against proposed amendments to public broadcaster LRT’s governance law. The image falsely depicted a woman holding a vulgar sign targeting him, while the original placard—held by a protester named Eglė—read: “Is accountability still on the way?” alongside a photo of an airplane, referencing a 2023 hoax in which Žemaitaitis was tricked into believing he had been invited to the U.S. by the State Department.

Žemaitaitis accompanied the post with comments mocking the woman’s private life, claiming such protest signs “discredit” the demonstration in support of free speech and LRT’s independence. “Instead of defending free thought, they defend obscenity,” he wrote, adding that “the symbol of Lithuania has shifted from Vytis [the national coat of arms] to vulgarity.” His post triggered a wave of online harassment, with thousands of followers joining in to ridicule the woman.

The targeted protester, Eglė, told LRT she felt “deeply humiliated” after friends and family alerted her to the post. “I went to the comments and saw how awful they were—so crude I couldn’t even look. Žemaitaitis set the tone. As a politician, he has a responsibility not to single out ordinary people and spread hatred based on disinformation,” she said. She is now considering legal action.

This is the second time in a week Žemaitaitis has shared fabricated images. Days earlier, he posted AI-generated photos falsely claiming LRT’s director, Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, was distributing free lunches to employees—a claim also debunked as false. When contacted by LRT, a representative from Nemuno aušra’s Klaipėda branch defended the latest post, questioning how the outlet could “prove” the photo was fake.

Saturday’s protest, titled “Hands Off Free Speech,” was organized in Vilnius’s Cathedral Square amid concerns that proposed legal changes could politicize LRT and restrict press freedom. Nemuno aušra is among the parties backing the amendments.