Lithuanian farmers protested in late June 2025 against a proposed tax reform. The protest ended in victory: The Lithuanian Seimas lowered their income tax rate. The WTF team has debunked the fake about this issue spread by ZhS Premium.
However, the same Telegram channel reported on July 8 that the protests were continuing and that ordinary citizens had joined them.
“There are quite a few demands. Among them is a request to reconsider the tax reform, which the country adopted out of poverty. Funds are needed for defense, and the only way to raise them is by ramping up fiscal brutality. People are also worried about freedom of speech in media and migration issues,” the post said. Photos allegedly from the protest were attached to the post.
Weekly Top Fake journalists verified the images. They were indeed taken in Vilnius but had nothing to do with the tax reform protest. They show a rally against Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas. The rally was sparked by a joint investigation by the Lithuanian investigative journalism center Siena and the independent online channel Laisvės TV into the politician’s possible involvement in corruption schemes.
This is confirmed, for example, by a headline on the website of Lithuania’s national broadcaster LRT: “Several thousand people protest against the Lithuanian prime minister’s business ties.”
The protesters did call for freedom of speech and stronger defense. But their main demand was for the prime minister to take responsibility for political scandals and resign.
The authors of ZhS Premium not only misrepresented the events but also omitted the broader context. The Lithuanian investigation mentions Belarusian businessman Aleksei Oleksin, who is on the EU sanctions list and considered one of Alexander Lukashenko’s key financiers. The reporters stop short of directly linking him to the Lithuanian government but point to a suspicious coincidence: A company connected to Oleksin is registered at the Lithuanian prime minister’s home address.