The United Kingdom’s sanctioning of two Georgian TV channels with pro-government editorial policies – Imedi and POSTV – under sanctions regulations related to Russia was followed by coordinated messaging from the ruling party Georgian Dream, pro-government media outlets, and government-aligned experts. The political council of the ruling party issued a special statement in response to...
In recent years, media outlets with pro-government editorial policies have not only echoed the government’s propaganda messages but have also closely cooperated with the authorities in discrediting the ruling party’s opponents and independent institutions. This cooperation largely involves the leaking of confidential data through the media, which may only be accessible to government agencies and,...
On November 8, the Facebook page “Tbilisi Twenty-Four” published a video featuring activist Nancy Woland speaking. In the video, the following can be heard: “I went down somewhere, called a taxi, and when I got in, I rolled up the windows because it was very cold. I was very cold too, soaked, but such a...
On 2 December, pro-government TV channels (Imedi, Rustavi 2, POSTV), government-aligned experts Davit Chikhelidze, Ghia Abashidze, and Amiran Salukvadze, and Georgian Dream MPs Nino Tsilosani and Giorgi Gabunia claimed that the BBC’s investigation into the alleged use of chemical agents during protest dispersals in Georgia in 2024 is based on pediatrician Konstantine Chakhunashvili’s research. The...
Tamari Lomidze Tamar is a graduate of International Relations School at the Free University of Tbilisi. She is interested in academic research and studying foreign languages. Tamar currently speaks English, German, Chinese, and Russian. Her interest in MythLab comes from a desire to explore disinformation narratives. She plans to use her academic experience more actively...
On November 7, TV company Imedi (1; 2), Rustavi 2, Georgian Public Broadcaster, and several other media outlets (Mkhare, InfoPostalioni, Exclusive News, SULinfo, Georgian Best News) published a letter from the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski, in which he informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Georgia’s participation in several regional projects has been...
Mzia Amaghlobeli, founder of Netgazeti and Batumelebi, was arrested on January 11 for slapping a police officer, and on August 6, the court sentenced her to two years in prison. Human rights defenders and international organizations assess this punishment as disproportionate and politically motivated, aiming to weaken critical media and create a precedent to intimidate...
Between September 18 and 24, Facebook accounts, including anonymous ones such as “Mriskhane Babuatsvera” [“Angry Dandelion”] and “Giga Chergoleishvili,” published a screenshot of a Facebook post allegedly from the political party Federalists. The image shows a livestream by the party leader, Tamar Chergoleishvili, with the caption, “I have completed the erosion of the regime. To...
On September 17, a fake Facebook account named “Marekhi Liparishvili” shared a photo of the former head of Georgia’s State Security Service, Grigol Liluashvili, along with a quote, “Bidzina Ivanishvili personally forced us to finance the United National Movement.” The same quote had also been posted by a Facebook user on July 29. The quote...
On September 18, the Facebook account, Daat Tsabadze, known for regularly spreading disinformation, posted a photo with the following description: “On October 4, a peaceful overthrow is inevitable, you Georgian Dream supporters.” The photo presumably shows a participant in a pro-European protest with pink-dyed hair, wearing a T-shirt with the EU flag on it, and...
On September 16, Georgian-language Facebook accounts (1; 2) shared a photo of former Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili along with a quote, “If I am arrested, such video material will be released that you will long for the footage from 2012.” The quote attributed to Irakli Gharibashvili is fake and originates from a TikTok...
On September 3, the pro-government TV company Rustavi 2 published a social media card on Facebook featuring quotes from the current and former directors of the non-governmental organization International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED). The quotes concerned the NGO’s procurement of face masks and gas masks, which the organization’s leaders had to explain...
On August 7, a video was shared on Facebook (1;2), in which a news anchor talks about banning women from driving and says, “Driver’s licenses will no longer be issued to women. Women are prohibited from driving.” The video includes the old logo of TV company Mtavari and the caption “Women won’t be able to...
On August 7, a 16-second excerpt of journalist Giorgi Targamadze’s interview was shared on Facebook, in which he discusses the cases of Mzia Amaglobeli and Giorgi Akhobadze. The sharer of the video includes a caption claiming that Targamadze does not believe in Akhobadze’s innocence. Giorgi Targamadze: “Mzia should have been released; as for Giorgi, perhaps...
On August 4, a Facebook account known for systematically spreading disinformation, “Daat Tsabadze,” published a photo of activist and teacher Nino Datashvili. In the image, Datashvili is depicted with long fangs, holding a photo of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the European Union flag. The image circulating on Facebook is AI-generated and aims to discredit...
On July 22, TV channels Imedi (1, 2, 3) and POSTV, as well as online outlets (Newshub.ge, Prime Time, INFO9, Georgia First NEWS, Exclusive Media) and individual social media accounts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), circulated information claiming that documents published on the website of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Foreign Agents Registration Act...
On July 20, in a recorded interview with Al Jazeera, published by Imedi, the owner of Imedi TV, Irakli Rukhadze, stated that if Mzia Amaghlobeli believes she has been detained because of her profession as a journalist, then she should appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. However, Rukhadze claimed, Amaghlobeli is...
On July 8, the POSTV’s Facebook page shared a video with a caption stating that representatives of the military commissariat in Kharkiv took a young man from the street for military service, and that his mother died of a stroke on the spot. The video shows a middle-aged woman chasing a car, then collapsing and...
On June 29, a quote allegedly from the Georgian Dream member Nino Tsilosani about UFC champion Ilia Topuria began circulating on social media (1,2): “Why are you people celebrating some Spaniard’s victory? Are we going to reclaim our sovereignty through men cuddling in the ring? P.S. Moreover, he is a UNM supporter!” The circulated quote...
Tsisia Moistsrapeshvili Tsisia is passionate about storytelling and marketing. She collaborates with the marketing team of the Bank of Georgia, writing blogs about various social campaigns and digital services. As a freelancer, Tsisia also contributes to the online media platform “Indigo.” She holds a Master’s degree in Psychology and Educational Sciences from Tbilisi State University....
On June 16, a Facebook page called “Down with the Zionist System” published a video collage showing scenes of destruction in Palestine and Israel. The footage is dated 2025. The segment of the video that appears to show destruction in Israel was generated using artificial intelligence and does not reflect reality. The first part of...
On June 12, 21-year-old Mate Devidze was sentenced by the Tbilisi City Court to four years and six months in prison on charges of assaulting a police officer. He was accused of attacking a police officer during the dispersal of a protest on November 19. Devidze had spent seven months in pre-trial detention. The verdict...
On June 17, a Facebook page called كوردستان قلب الحدث published a video, which, according to the post, shows chaos in an Israeli asylum center. The video is accompanied by an Arabic caption that translates into Georgian as “Chaos in Israeli asylum centers after security forces refused to release them!” The video is being circulated...
Employees of the Georgian Public Broadcaster, including the former director of the news division and current host of the program “42° Parallel,” Giorgi Gvimradze, as well as the broadcaster’s analyst, Nino Khelaia, participated in events organized by groups affiliated with the pro-Kremlin party Solidarity for Peace. On May 18, 2025, Gvimradze and Khelaia took part...
On June 3, Georgian Dream MP Nino Tsilosani wrote that in the United Kingdom, more than a thousand people are arrested each month due to social media posts. Tsilosani cited this example in the context of the “uproar over media regulation” in Georgia. Her post was later circulated by media outlets including Imedi, Rustavi 2,...
On June 1, Facebook user Nino Kvaratskhelia, who frequently shares misinformation, and others disseminated two photos (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in which journalists are seen wearing Inter Milan jerseys. In one photo, the jersey is worn by Formula TV journalist Vakho Sanaia, and in the other, we see Davit Eradze, host of the “Sport...
On May 26-27, Georgian and Russian-speaking Facebook users circulated a video that appears to show France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron physically abusing French President Emmanuel Macron. In the video, the couple is seen disembarking from an airplane, during which the First Lady grabs her husband’s arm and then punches him. A fabricated video depicting an...
On March 18-19, Davit Kartvelishvili from the People’s Power party and Facebook users (1, 2, 3.) shared an information card featuring the logo of Mtavari Arkhi. The image contained text claiming that “Trump categorically demanded from Putin the immediate release of Mikheil Saakashvili.” The card is designed in the style of information cards created and...
On February 24, a quote attributed to Nino Tsilosani, a member of the Georgian Dream party, was disseminated on Facebook in connection with the heavy snowfall. The information card, which features a photo of the politician and the logo of the Imedi TV channel, reads, “The United National Movement is not the only one gloating...
On February 17, the pro-government media outlet POSTV published (1;2) a video with the caption, “Zviad Dzidziguri acknowledges the election results,” featuring Zviad Dzidziguri, a member of the political party For Georgia. In a video cut out from a show on Pirveli TV, he says, “850,000 people voted against them [the ruling Georgian Dream party]....
On January 27, TV company Imedi spread information on its Facebook pages claiming that Salome Zourabichvili proposed to the new U.S. administration to pressure Russia and use Georgia as a “playground” for this purpose. According to Imedi, an article with this content was published by the American outlet The Hill. The same information was also...
On January 23, POSTV – Analytics and POSTV – Politics, Facebook pages of the pro-government media outlet POSTV, shared a video they claim features an address from the university classmates of the leader of the Droa party, Elene Khoshtaria. In the video, Russian-speaking individuals state that they were Khoshtaria’s classmates. One of them mentions that...
On January 20, Facebook users spread a photo of Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, attending Donald Trump’s inauguration, wearing a coat featuring the American flag. One of the posts included a screenshot from the online media outlet Tabula, showing Zourabichvili wearing a coat with U.S. symbolism. The photo of Salome Zourabichvili at Trump’s inauguration, showing...
On January 14, Facebook users posted a video where Gela Mtivlishvili, editor of the regional media outlet Mtis Ambebi, speaks about the arrest of Mzia Amaghlobeli, the director of the publications Batumelebi and Netgazeti. In the video, Mtivlishvili says: “It is a lie of the Georgian Dream… The propaganda media of the Georgian Dream is...
Following the removal of EU negotiation talks from the agenda and the suspension of the integration process by the Georgian Dream, large-scale protests erupted in the country. Amid these protests, on December 4, 2024, the Facebook page “Ai Politika,” affiliated with Gia Gachechiladze’s “Ar Agarevinebt” movement, published a photo and quote from Zviad Kharazishvili, head...
On December 5, the government-aligned television channel POSTV disseminated the following quote attributed to the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski: “It is a fact that when protesters do not resort to violence, there is no need for the police to respond.” In the description of the post, the media outlet wrote, “This is what...
Following Georgian Dream’s decision to remove negotiations with the European Union from its agenda, effectively halting the country’s EU integration process, protest rallies erupted across Georgia. In response, two Facebook groups were created on December 1 and 2: “Anti-Maidan!” and “Anti-Maidan Movement.” Within two days, the latter rebranded itself as “Healthy Force.” These groups represent...
On December 1, Imedi, a TV channel that follows a pro-government editorial policy, disseminated a photo from that night’s protest rally, claiming it depicted an armed protester. The TV channel captioned the photo as “Allegedly armed ‘peaceful’ protester.” Based on Imedi’s report, several Facebook accounts (1; 2) also shared the photo. The claim by pro-government...
Opposition parties and local monitoring organizations refused to recognize the results of the October 26, 2024 parliamentary elections, triggering widespread protests demanding re-elections. Independent local monitoring organizations and the opposition highlighted issues such as voter intimidation, breaches of voting secrecy, voter bribery, and procedural irregularities. Amid the civil protests, trolls (fake accounts) became increasingly active...
On November 20, an account known for frequently spreading disinformation, “Irma Khakhutaishvili,” shared an information card of the pro-government TV channel POSTV, which reads: “The EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski, strongly condemns the attacks on journalists by the protesters.” In the description of the post, the account writes: “Aha, they have noticed; they will...
On November 17, several news outlets, including Prime Time, Info 9, News Hub, Exclusive News, and several Facebook accounts (1, 2), as well as Adjara Public Broadcaster, disseminated information alleging that the political party Lelo for Georgia did not support the idea of picketing Varaziskhevi and left the protest rally on the same day. The original...
On November 11, Facebook user Nona Sharabidze shared a claim alleging that Larry Fink, the head of the American corporation BlackRock, called for the cremation of Ukrainian soldiers. The accompanying photo features Larry Fink alongside the following quote: “The owner of Ukraine addressed Ukrainians with a complaint: “There are too many cemeteries! Use crematoriums. This...
On October 29, several Facebook accounts (1;2;3;4;5;6) shared an 11-second video of Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili speaking at a protest rally, claiming that she addressed the crowd on Rustaveli Avenue saying, “Today, I think, I gave to six presidents, including presidents of European countries.” [“Giving” in Georgian can also be understood as having sex] The...
On October 14, media outlets with pro-government editorial policy POSTV and Publicist.ge (1,2), along with anonymous Facebook pages (1,2,3), published a video featuring Nino Lomjaria, the founder of the platform “European Orbit of Georgia.” POSTV added a description to the video that reads, “Nino Lomjaria: unfortunately, our country is the most dear to us,” whereas...
Anano Sikmashvili Anano Sikmashvili is an undergraduate student at GIPA. She has recently completed an internship at the Department of Public Diplomacy at the US Embassy in Georgia. Anano is particularly interested in methods for combating disinformation and propaganda, and she conducts training sessions at the Youth Center for Civic Development (YCCD Georgia)....
On September 26, an anonymous Georgian-language Facebook account published a short video (a so-called “reels”) featuring quotes from Georgian opposition figures and public personas, including Gigi Ugulava, Levan Berdzenishvili, Zurab Chiaberashvili, Nino Lomjaria, and others, creating the impression that they are calling for war. The video is accompanied by the caption “Say no to war!...
On August 27, a new Facebook page called “Facts and Choice” was created. According to its first post, it was established on a “voluntary basis” and aims to expose disinformation and “argue with facts,” so that “no one can mislead society during the pre-election period.” The page positions itself as an organization fighting disinformation, but...
On September 5th, a Georgian Dream MP, Nino Tsilosani, published a post on her Facebook page about the banning of political parties in member states of the Council of Europe. According to Tsilosani, there have been around 150 such cases, with 22 in Ukraine, 13 in France, 9 in Romania, 4 in Spain, 3 in...
On August 30-31, the pro-government media outlet POSTV published Gela Mtivlishvili’s quotes from the Constitutional Court hearing on the so-called “Foreign Agents” law. Mtivlishvili is the editor of the online media “Mtis Ambebi.” According to POSTV’s social media card, Mtivlishvili allegedly admitted that online media has secret and non-transparent funding. They also published a video...
In recent months, from Ukraine to Colombia, Lithuania and Spain, websites and social media accounts close to the Kremlin have spread disinformation accusing the wife of Ukrainian President Zelensky of trafficking minors through her foundation. This is Olena Zelenska’s Pizzagate, the Ukrainian version of the conspiracy theory that led Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old American,...
On July 23, a Georgian-language Facebook account posted about Kamala Harris, the Vice President of the United States and a potential presidential candidate, claiming she provided sexual services to elites in the past. The post includes several photos and videos. One photo shows two women, with one, having curly hair and wearing a black dress,...
Since June 14, Georgian (1,2,3) and Russian-language Facebook accounts (1,2), Facebook pages, as well as Russian-language account fo Threads (1,2) have been reporting that Coca-Cola is returning to the Russian market, which is evidenced by the fact that the company applied for trademark registration in Russia in April. Part of the Facebook accounts disseminated the...
On June 4-7, Georgian-language Facebook users (1, 2, 3, 4) disseminated an open letter by philosopher Zaza Shatirishvili, in which he talks about European countries and the US and states that there is a tragically difficult situation there. In the letter, Shatirishvili asserts that for the second decade in the European Union, “transparency has been replaced...
On June 10, the pro-government TV channel POSTV posted information on its Facebook page, “POSTV – Analytics,” that Czech politician Markéta Gregorová was not re-elected to the European Parliament. To this information, POSTV added Gregorová’s comment of May 17, in which she stated that “Georgia has a pro-Russian government and Ivanishvili is an oligarch,” and...
On April 5, Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, in the program “Sum-Up of the Day with Nikoloz Mzhavanadze” on the Sezoni TV channel, stated that while nongovernmental organizations in Georgia were “fighting against the Saakashvili regime,” Nino Lomjaria, then chairperson of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), was talking about “how good the election environment...
On November 30, the Facebook page of the pro-government media “POSTV – Analytics” published information about the alleged wedding of Giuli Alasania, the mother of the former president of Georgia, and Giorgi Chaladze, a member of the “United National Movement.” According to the published post, Giuli Alasania and Giorgi Chaladze are being congratulated on their...
On October 25-26, Facebook users published a post (1,2,3,4,5,6,7), according to which the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, said that Davit Gareji is part of Georgia. According to the posts, Aliyev made this statement after studying the maps sent by the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili. According to the posts, the President of Azerbaijan...
Since October 8, 2023, a video of children in cages has been going viral on social networks along with the claim that it depicts Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists (1;2;3;4;5;6;7). In the video, a man can be heard laughing loudly. Georgian news agencies Resonancedaily and TV Pirveli published information with identical video and content....
On September 1, 2023, the ruling Georgian Dream party initiated the impeachment proceedings against President Salome Zourabichvili. Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the party, stated that the President had grossly violated the Georgian Constitution and had planned a series of foreign visits without the government’s consent. The issue of Salome Zourabichvili’s impeachment triggered discussions and...
On August 23, 2023, a Facebook post about actor Jim Carrey and Hollywood went viral, stating that Carrey exposed the Hollywood elite. According to the Post, in an interview in 2018, Jim Carrey said that children are eaten at Christmas in Hollywood. In 2018-2020, Russian-language Facebook users voiced the same claim as well (1, 2)....
On July 24, 2023, a Georgian-language Facebook account published an excerpt from an interview with the actor Jim Caviezel from the movie “Sound of Freedom.” In the description of the post, the author claims that the film depicts a real international system of child trafficking, which involves high-ranking people, the so-called elites. The author also...
On July 27 and 28, 2023, Georgian and Russian-language (1, 2) Facebook accounts started circulating a video of The Independent, in which a man named Gregg Wallace tells us about the company “Good Harvest,” where meat is allegedly produced from the cells of the human body. According to the disseminated posts, Gregg Wallace praised the...
On July 15-17, 2023, Facebook users (1,2,3,4,5), including those supporting the pro-Kremlin conservative movement party, shared a video clip from the American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ program InfoWars, in which the invited guest, Kevin Annett, talks about the satanic cult, the “Ninth Circle.” According to Kevin Annett, the cult of the Ninth Circle is involved...
On July 5-7, 2023, Georgian (1, 2) and Russian-language Facebook accounts published a post according to which official posters in the New York subway threatened people with death if they did not respect transgender people. The posts contain pictures of the posters, which feature the inscription “Respect trans people or your pronouns will be “was/were.”...
On June 3, 2023, an anonymous Facebook account published a screenshot of a Telegram message, which contains two photos and text in Russian. One photo features a naked woman lying on the beach; the other one depicts Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine. According to the Russian-language description, the first photo was taken on...
On May 28-29, 2023, the Facebook page “Georgia First,” which is affiliated with Vato Shakarishvili, the founder of the movement “Ai Ia,” as well as Georgian (1, 2, 3) and Russian-language Facebook accounts (1, 2, 3) disseminated the video featuring American Senator Lindsey Graham’s during his visit to Kyiv, meeting the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr...
On May 14, 2023, writer Merab Ratishvili published five photos showing a large beam coming from the sky in the area of fires, a flying machine with a large lens, and the cover of one of the issues of Time magazine, featuring the Earth is on fire. According to the description, the photos depict fires...
On March 23-24, 2023, the Facebook page “Political Graveyard N5” and several Facebook accounts (1,2,3,4) published a screenshot of the alleged Facebook post of journalist Vakho Sanaia, which was related to the visit of famous Georgian football player Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia. According to the post, Sanaia claims that despite going to...
The communications department of the ruling “Georgian Dream” party created the Facebook page “In Reality” on June 9, 2021. The page claims that the platform aims to expose the spread of false information against the “Georgian Dream,” and features the slogan “Trust facts, not perceptions”. As of January 15, the page is managed by 5...
On January 15th, 2023, Volodymyr Zelenksyy approved the amendments to the document on personal, special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) proposed by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. The updated list of sanctioned individuals now includes Shota Apkhaidze., who is now subject to restrictions on entry into the territory of Ukraine, restrictions...
On October 14, 2022, the Facebook page of the Special Penitentiary Service published video footage showing former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s imprisonment. According to the explanation of the Penitentiary Service, the footage was made public due to high public interest, and it reflects different periods of Saakashvili’s imprisonment. In addition, the post stated that the...
On December 2nd, 2022, the founder of the anti-liberal social movement “Georgian Mission,” Ramaz Gagnidze, published a photo of two half-naked men wearing wigs. According to the caption, the photo was taken at New York Pride in 1999 and shows the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the advisor of the Office of the President...
On November 22nd, 2022, Levan Nikolaishvili, a pro-governmental expert, responded to the statement of the US ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan. Degnan’s statement concerned the comments made by David Kramer, executive director of the George W. Bush Center, on the imposition of sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili. Nikoleishvili criticized Kelly Degnan for the comment where the...
On October 12th, 2022, Georgian-language supporters of the “Conservative Movement” (1, 2, 3, 4) published posts about the video addresses of the President of Ukraine, claiming that Volodymyr Zelenskyt’s speeches are not being recorded on the streets of Kyiv, but in the studio. The posts are accompanied by a video showing the process of recording...
A disinformation message about the US having assisted Georgia with “water and diapers” during the August 2008 war, has been a mantra of pro-Kremlin actors for years to sow skepticism towards the strategic partner. The aforementioned message has been reactivated this year by supporters of pro-Russian political party Alt-Info/Conservative Movement. On 7 August, the Facebook...
On June 14th, 2022, during the Alt-Info program “Commentary of the Day”, Alexandre Palavandishvili spoke about the June 9th resolution of the European Parliament and Georgia-EU relations, noting that the Georgian Dream only deviated from the Western course when it refused to open a second front and hold an LGBT parade in the country. Palavandishvili...
On June 8th, 2022, the European Parliament adopted a joint resolution on violations of media freedom and the safety of journalists in Georgia, expressing concern about the deteriorating media situation and the safety of journalists in the country in recent years. The resolution condemns cases of intimidation, threats and violence against journalists and calls on...
On May 15th, the Facebook user ‘Nino Sharabidze’ published an alleged quote from the famous American businessman David Rockefeller. The post ascribes to Rockefeller the following words: “It is necessary to organize world processes in such a way that the Arabs kill the Arabs, the Slavs kill the Slavs. We cannot allow the third world...
On May 16th, the Tbilisi City Court convicted Nika Gvaramia, General Director of the Mtavari Arkhi, of causing damage to Rustavi 2 and sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison. While Gvaramia’s arrest was harshly criticized by the media, and local and international NGOs, a campaign aimed to discredit Gvariamia and the journalists of the...
The Story of a Georgian Troll who Gives Interviews Using a Picture of a Russian Social Media User Since the initiation of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, the West has imposed a number of sanctions to stop its aggression. However, the Georgian government decided against joining the sanctions. According to...
Fagan Abbasov Fagan Abbasov is a second-year Public Administration MA student at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and has earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Tbilisi State University. Fagan is the Marneuli municipality regional representative of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and is actively cooperating with local...
Following the end of February 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war became the new focus of Georgian anti-vaxxers as they started disseminating Russian-backed conspiracy theories and disinformation. Facebook accounts that oppose vaccination, on the one hand, seek to justify Russian military intervention in Ukraine, presenting the war as an operation to free Ukraine of nationalists and perversion,...
On January 18th, 2022, Giorgi Kardava, one of the leaders of the Conservative Movement, spoke about the Public Ombudsman and the State Inspector’s Offices in Alt-Info’s program “Alternative Vision”. Kardava noted that these institutions are not subject to state regulation and, hence, represent tools in the hands of external actors, which contradicts the rule of...
On January 12th, the Tbilisi City Court heard the controversial money laundering case against the founders of TBC Bank – Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze. The court found Khazaradze and Japaridze guilty of fraud; however, they were not put to jail since the statute of limitations were passed by the time of the ruling. During...
On December 25th, the Georgian government revealed its plans to abolish the State Inspector’s Office and create two new supplementary agencies. The State Inspector herself responded to the information, noting that she had found out about the “conspiratorially” initiated change regarding the abolition of her service from the media. She further noted that the change cannot be perceived as a reform...
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has become a target of violent groups this time. The newly-created political party “Conservative Movement,” whose leaders have incited violence against Tbilisi Pride on July 5th, resulting in the injury of 53 journalists, has announced a rally outside the Ombudsman’s office on December 24th. The organizers demand the release of the violent activists...
On November 28th, 2021, the Facebook user Nino Kuntseva-Gabashvili posted a photo of a so-called “Health certificate” [Gesundheitspass] issued in the Third Reich. According to the post description, the document was used in fascist Germany in the 1930s and was required for access to museums, schools, stadiums, restaurants, shops, transport and other public places. The author of...
After the deterioration of the health of the imprisoned third president of Georgia, the Ombudsman and her group of experts assessed the health condition of Saakashvili as critical. They recommended his treatment in the intensive care unit of the multi-unit hospital. The statements voiced by the Ombudsman resulted in the emergence of anti-opposition pages and government trolls,...
On November 27th, the Facebook page “Leader 41” published an edited photo of Mikheil Saakashvili, on which he is wrapped in a white robe. The image is accompanied by a description stating that Saakashvili’s doctor at the Gori Military Hospital, Nino Gogorishvili, said Saakashvili was imitating a courtroom session, calling on the judge to be fair, and...
On November 20th, the Georgian version of the pro-Kremlin “News Front” and the pro-governmental “Spacenews.io” published a Facebook post by the founder of the Caucasus Center for Islamic Studies,Shota Apkhaidze. Apkhaidze claims that the Public Defender and Formula TV received 580,000 EUR from the Armenian organization Patterson Belknap, the French Kagan Foundation and the Russian...
On October 26th, 2021, Irakli Martinenko, the host at “Alt-Info,” said that systematically unacceptable forms of punishment, such as rape and similar methods, were not employed under Joseph Stalin’s rule. Irakli Martinenko: „[In Stalin’s time] there was no such thing as a systematic use of unacceptable forms of punishment. Namely, crimes were not punished by drastic measures such...
On November 2nd, the Facebook page “Miss Décolleté 2018” posted aphoto depicting the fashion line of the creative director of Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia. Namely, the picture shows a model wearing a T-shirt with the following inscription “მიშა შეიწყალეთ” [Pardon Misha]. The post itself is accompanied by the following comment: “Demna Gvasalia, Autumn-Winter 2021,” creating the impression...
After the return and arrest of Mikheil Saakashvili, several coordinated campaigns were launched on the social network to disseminate disinformation and discredit the third president of Georgia. During October 30-31st, the period of the second round of the 2021 local self-government elections and its aftermath, anumber of fabricated quotes were spread in the name of Mikheil...
Update 20.11.24: Information about the Facebook page ხაშურის მუნიციპალიტეტი • Khashuri Municipality has been added to the material. Shortly before the October 2nd local elections, Myth Detector identified 13 Facebook accounts with 11 posing as regional media outlets, one – as a page aimed to popularize a specific region and another – operating as a...
On August 30th, 2021, the U.S. has finished withdrawing its military forces from Afghanistan. The process itself started after reaching the agreement with the Taliban during Trump’s presidency in Doha. During the process, the Taliban accelerated the military campaign and seized control of the majority of the Afghan territories, including the capital city Kabul. Until...
On August 27th, the Facebook user ‘Nino Nino’ published a 22-second-long video showing soldiers unconsciously lying on the ground, with other military personnel trying to help them. Nino Nino claims that several Indian soldiers who were vaccinated received a heart attack during military training. On August 28th, the same video was shared by the user Karen...
On September 5th, 2021, the Facebook user “Nino Nino” published a video where Kamala Harris, the vice president of the U.S., gets inoculated by a coronavirus vaccine. The frame where the medical worker allegedly straightens the needle by the end of the procedure is repeated several times. The video description asserts that Harris did not take the...
On August 28th, the Facebook page of the political party “Free Georgia” aired a live broadcast of a Zoom meeting, in which the party leader Kakha Kukava talks to Davit Dolidze. According to the video description, Georgian citizens are forced to be vaccinated at the Kutaisi airport. The respondent claims that his children had to...
On August 9th, the Facebook user “Nino Nino” shared a video showcasing how a person sets a specific part of the field on fire. According to the description, the video demonstrates how the world is burned down artificially to reduce the level of oxygen. As of August 9th, the post has accumulated 23000 shares. The...
Blogger Natia Colussi obtained large-scale exposure to Georgian social media after publishing a video named “Very Unpopular video: Plans behind the March for Dignity” on July 7th. Following the forced cancellation of the “March for Dignity, mass violence against journalists, repression of LGBTQ+ activists and raging homophobic discourse, the video rapidly became popular among the...
Georgian social network accommodates a number of quotes shared in the name of journalists and civil activists. On July 10th, the Facebook page “Liberastuli seni” published a quote, which was ascribed to Maia Mamulashvili, and claimed that homophobes sent by ‘Putinist groups’ had bitten children. Two days later, on July 12th, the same page shared...
Anti-Western narratives were predominantly nurtured by the Levan Vasadze-linked Media Outlet Alt-Info. In addition to actively participating in organizing the anti-Pride demonstrations of July 5th, the hosts of Alt-Info were actively spreading controversial messages aimed at mobilizing violent groups. After July 5th, the violent rhetoric of Alt-Info became more assertive and was aimed at: Western...
On July 5th, violent groups marching against the planned Tbilisi Pride forcefully intruded into the office of “Shame movement” and assaulted several journalists. During the incident, Aleksandre Lashkarava – the cameraman of “TV Pirveli,” received severe injuries. Six days after, Lashkarava was found dead in his apartment. During the 17:15 emergency briefing on July 11th,...
The statement of Tbilisi Pride regarding the planned events on July 1-5 aimed at protecting the LGBTQ+ rights (including the Pride March planned on July 5th on Rustaveli Ave.) was followed by violent, homophobic and anti-Western messages by hate groups. The following report consists of two parts, which, on the one hand, analyze the messages...
On June 26, Facebook users Nina Marji and Bachi Kurdadze shared a screenshot of the comment by Tamila España, one of the social network users, stating that new law is to be passed in Spain, on the basis of which if vaccination is refused, children will be taken away from parents, while irresponsible parents will...
On June 22, Facebook user Giorgi Dzidziguri shared a photo depicting Georgian Patriarch Ilia II to a public group “გასამართლდეს ნაციონალური მოძრაობა!” (Bring the National Movement to Justice). The photo is accompanied by the quote attributed to the Patriarch: “I will end Natsi band.” The photo was uploaded on Facebook page “ეკლესია ლიბერასტების წინააღმდეგ” (Church...
During Alt-Info TV program “Alt-Interview” on June 16, Tatia Gabritchidze, the host of the program, and her guest, Georgian cleric Giorgi Vashalomidze, spoke about recent developments around the Georgian Orthodox Church-run Ninotsminda orphanage. The program host noted that compulsory religious education is regulated well in the schools of European countries and that teaching dominant religion...
Nino Ratishvili, host of Obieqtivi TV’s Night Studio program, said on June 19 that a vaccinated mother was not allowed to transfuse her blood to her child. Ratishvili noted that Georgia received this directive from the Red Cross who states it is better if unvaccinated people donate blood. Earlier on June 17, identical information was...
On June 13, 2021, Facebook user Nino Asatiani shared a photo on her account taken during the G7 Summit, featuring U.K Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Queen Elizabeth II, President of European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen, and other officials. The author focuses on people in masks standing far from political leaders, considering it discrimination against...
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria became the target of pro-Kremlin and antiliberal groups after Bishop Spiridon (Abuladze) of Skhalta refused to permit the Public Defender’s monitoring visit to the Orthodox Church-run Ninotsminda orphanage. Myth Detector has identified the actors involved in the campaign of discrediting the Public Defender on social and traditional media. In particular:...
On May 29, the Leader of Georgian March, Sandro Bregadze, stated on air at TV Obiektivi that the major part of funding, sent to Georgia, is used to finance anti-Georgian and anti-national NGOs, whose main fight vector is aimed at the Georgian Orthodox Church. Bregadze also claims that it would be nice, if these funds...
On June 5, pro-Kremlin media outlet News Front published an article claiming that Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria is involved in the network of pedophilia and child organ trafficking and just that is the reason behind her “hyperactive behavior” regarding the issues of minors. The same article notes that Lomjaria frequently meets with the Israeli...
On May 31, 2021, Giorgi Gigauri, an Asaval-Dasavali journalist published a post on his Facebook page claiming that the Ministry of Education and the UN Population Fund opened an Equality Corner in one of the village schools in Zugdidi Municipality. Gigauri claimed that the opening of the Equality Corner confirms that “gender identity” and “LGBT...
On May 22, TV “Alt-info”, associated with Levan Vasadze’s political movement “Unity, Essence, Hope – Nation”, aired an interview of Dimitri Lortkipanidze, head of the Primakov Georgian-Russian Public Center. Lortkipanidze speaks about Public Defender’s request to enter Ninotsminda Orphanage and claims that concordat grants the church the right to bar Public Defender from entering the...
On May 25, a Facebook user Nini Jgharkava disseminated a screenshot allegedly from the official Facebook page of Giorgi Gakharia, the former Prime Minister of Georgia, which said: “Bidzina Ivanishvili is building the hydroelectric power plant and they are demanding my arrest at the manifestations.” The screenshot of the official page of Giorgi Gakharia is...
A protest rally held in Tbilisi on May 23 against the construction of the Namakhvani Hydropower Plant in western Georgia’s Rioni Gorge has prompted fake pages to spread discrediting posts. Myth Detector has identified four active Facebook pages with three of them trying to discredit and make fun of the organizers of protests on May...
On May 11, 2021, Facebook user Ninu Nemsveridze Art uploaded a Russian-language video, which claims that global pandemic was planned back in the 20th century and its goal was to reduce the population. To prove its claims, the video provides the quote allegedly taken from the book “Verbatim” by Jacques Attali, who, according to the...
On May 14, Facebook page სოფელ უდეს მონასტრები (Monasteries of the Village Ude) shared monastrisnobati.ge article about Catholics celebrating Ascension Day on May 13 in village Buzmareti. The article titled “Annual Invasion of Parish from the Latin Church of Rome in the Orthodox Churches of Buzmareti” notes that for two years, law enforcement officers haven’t...
On April 20, Facebook user Ani Mjavia shared a link of a clickbait page Gifsat.com in public groups ექსკლუზივი (Exclusive), Intellect Club, პოზიტივი (Positivity) and ანეგდოტების რვეული (Notebook for Anecdotes), with the description: “Barack Obama’s wife is a man! – A shocking video, a theory, which was spread a few days ago”. Information shared on...
On April 20 Facebook page „ბავშვთა უფლებების დაცვის საზოგადოება“ (“Society for Protecting Children’s rights”) shared a video, where representatives of this society Guram Palavandishvili and Aleksandre Palavandishvili state that, the goal of the ombudsman for entering Ninotsminda’s children’s home is to deprave underaged people. Aleksandre Palavandishvili: “In the children’s home under the guidance of...
On April 24 a story was aired on TV Obiektivi stating that a few hours after vaccinating with AstraZeneca, a 63-year-old man went into an anaphylactic shock. “Another adverse effect of AstraZeneca vaccine” – this is how journalist Archil Arevadze starts the show. On the same day during the Night Studio of “Obiektivi”, host Nino...
Esma Ananidze Esma Ananidze – obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration from St Tbel Abuseridze University. She currently works as an administrative manager at the branch of LEPL College “New Wave” in Khulo municipality. She is also a vocational education teacher. PUBLISHED MATERIAL: Davit Beradze Davit Beradze – is a...
The host of Russia’s First Channel, journalist Vladimir Pozner arrived in Tbilisi with a delegation to celebrate his 87th birthday, which was followed by a protest by civic activists and the opposition party members. On the night of March 31, the demonstration was held near hotels “Rooms” and “Vinotel”. According to participants of the protest,...
On September 17, 2020, a Facebook profile „ჩემი საქართველო“ (My Georgia) published a photo with a caption claiming that it is Lagodekhi Nature Reserve. The author of the post expresses delight and also points out that the photo shows Lagodekhi Nature Reserve, located in Kakheti, Georgia. Although the post is from 2020, it is still...
On March 15, Facebook user Larisa Tsitlanadze published the video several times depicting the doctor Lana Ubilava’s vaccination with COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine in Zugdidi. In the video caption, Larisa Tsitlanadze writes that the tip of the needle is misplaced on the vial, “as if the doctor withdrew the vaccine”. Larisa Tsitlanadze published the aforesaid video...
March 6, TV Pirveli aired an audio conversation allegedly between Bera Ivanishvili, Irakli Garibashvili and Anzor Chubinidze whose authenticity was initially questioned by the Georgian Dream lawmakers and dubbed as “a fabrication.” However, in the interview with Imedi TV on March 9, Bera Ivanishvili, son of the ruling party founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, did not deny...
On March 8, 2021, a website Sportvideos.ge published an article titled “Lomjaria: Georgian gays and transgenders should be allowed to marry and adopt because…”. The article cites the Public Defender’s report, which, according to the publication, criticizes the notion of marriage in the constitution, as a union between a woman and a man and...
On March 12, 2021, Goal.ge published news, titled “Georgian NGOs Demanded to Disqualify Basilashvili from Tournament”. The article mentions the successes of the Georgian tennis player, Nikoloz Basilashvili at the tournament in Doha and the statements made by his lawyer, Irma Chkadua. The article comes with photos of Nino Lomjaria, the Public Defender, which, together...
During the Obiektivi TV program “Ghamis Studia” (Night Studio) aired on March 4, 2021, Nino Ratishvili, the program host, and Nona Aghdgomelashvili, a doctor-therapist spoke about COVID-19 vaccines. The latter said that society serves as a lab rat in the process of COVID-19 vaccination because the vaccine has not passed the required stages for testing,...
On February 25, Georgian online media outlet Versia published an article headlined “Georgians moving to Germany for work will be paid wages and withheld income taxes in Georgia.” Speaking in the interview with the media outlet, Spain-based Levan Simonishvili, head of Georgian Emigrants Association, claimed that food and accommodation expenses of Georgian seasonal workers will...
Facebook users Nino Bregadze and Gocha Chumashvili shared identical texts on the social networking website on February 20-21, 2021. According to their post, there is a food additive called HEK-293 that consists of kidney cells of an aborted embryo and large food-producing companies such as Nestle, Kraft, and PepsiCo use it in their products. The...
On February 17, based on a decision of Tbilisi City Court, the bail for a leader of the United National Movement (UNM), Nika Melia, was replaced with imprisonment. Melia was arrested on February 23 in the office of the opposition. The arrest of one of the leaders of the opposition was followed by protest and...
Before police detained Nika Melia, leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party, during a special operation at the party headquarters, international partners called on the Georgian government to de-escalate tensions and avoid deepening polarization caused by the political impasse following the 2020 parliamentary elections. They also called on the opposition to end their...
On February 12, 2021, Facebook user Lado Chkhetiani published the February 11 recording of the program “ღამის სტუდია” (Night Studio) aired on “Obiektivi” TV. In the recording, the host Nino Ratishvili and her guests (Tina Topuria, Irina Gelashvili, Maiko Smith) discussed the vaccines. The host and her guests develop a narrative that it is impossible...
On September 16, at 10:20, pro-Georgian Dream Facebook page “ლიდერი 41” (Leader 41) published a photo, showing Gigi Tsereteli of the opposition European Georgia party along with Russian MP Sergei Gavrilov and other persons. The page notes that the meeting was held in the OSCE format on April 22, 2019 and that the Gavrilov case...
During the Obieqtivi TV program Gamis Studia (Night Studio) aired on January 25, 2020, Nino Ratishvili, the program host, and Nona Agdgomelashvili, an invited guest, spoke about vaccines. The latter claimed that vaccines cause various complications, including epilepsy, autism and infertility. To back up her words, Agdgomelashvili provided an example of vaccines manufactured by...
On 28 January, speaking in a talk show “Reaction” on TV Pirveli, Iveri Melashvili discussed, among other things, the process of defining a disputed section of the border. Various media outlets and political actors took only a fragment of the talk show and shared it extensively. The mentioned fragment contained few sentences, including the words...
On January 20, Facebook profile Tamaz Chikhladze published a photo of Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria with the following comment: “Nino Lomjaria, “public defender”: Georgian penitentiary system is governed by informal “thief-in-law” Bidzina Ivanishvili”. As of 14:30, January 21, the post has 61 reactions,80 comments, and 27 shares. The aforesaid account shared the post...
On January 11, a Facebook user Nino Bregadze published a post about vaccines. It cited a Greek computer specialist Giannis Bitzarakis, which claims that Bill Gates stated that the COVID-19 vaccine includes nanorobots and the second shot is needed to activate them via electronic energy. He says that vaccination equals suicide and adds that...
On January 10, Facebook profile “სულიერი სამყარო” (Spiritual World) published a post, according to which, doctors in Vienna confirmed that wearing masks caused fungal infection and as a result, 10 children are in critical condition. The author of the post calls for readers to take masks away from Children. The photo attached to the post...
Tamar Kiknadze, a Georgian political analyst, said during Obieqtivi TV program “Gamis Studia” (Night Studio) on December 24 that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell allegedly claimed that a human being should have no religious, ethnic or gender identity. Kiknadze called it the key postulate of liberalism, linking it to...
Over the past years, information warfare has been gaining recognition as a major global threat, particularly due to its weaponization by state actors. It is widely believed that tools such as disinformation and propaganda particularly flourish in polarized and fractured societies. This makes countries and regions with longtime conflicts especially susceptible to their malign influence....
On December 12, 2020, a Facebook user Nona Bakuradze published a post about alleged financial connections between several international companies, George Soros, and Bill Gates. The author claimed that a Wuhan-based pharmaceutical company is owned by Glaxo, which is also the owner of Pfizer. Both companies are managed by BlackRock, a George Soros-owned company. The author also...
In the interview with Obieqtivi TV on December 10, Tina Topuria, a homeopath, spoke about “the threats” posed by COVID-19 vaccines, noting that the vaccine has already killed six people and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to admit it. She also stressed that Prince Charles refused to get the coronavirus vaccine. On December...
On December 7, a Facebook user Nino Gaprindashvili published a video, which is originally English but is dubbed in Russian. The video shows a man that does not say his name and addresses the viewers as their “favorite science teacher”. The man discusses the masks and claims that the students should always wear them, but he also...
On December 6, Facebook user Nino Gaprindashvili published a Latvian Feldsher’s video address on her account. In the video, the medic criticizes drugs used in the treatment of COVID-19 and doesn’t agree with restrictions imposed because of the pandemic. According to Feldsher, remdesivir, and nimbex that relax muscles cause the death of patients. Moreover, he also notes...
On November 30, head of the “Rights Defenders’ Union” organization Nikoloz Mzhavanadze published a video on his Facebook account with the following description: “Azerbaijan dreams of completely conquering Georgia and publishes a scandalous video clip on social network”. Mzhavanadze also notes that for some agents of SOCAR, it’d be credible only if Russians produced the identical video...
On December 3 Facebook profiles Gia Ukleba and Nino Kogua published the post about Japanese Professor Tasuku Honjo’s statement about coronavirus. Identical information was published by the online media outlets ProgressNews.press and News-Front Georgia. ProgressNews.press cited megatv.ge as the source of the information, albeit as of December 6 the material isn’t available on the said webpage On December 4, Tvalsazrisi.ge’s Facebook page published the information based...
On November 30, Facebook pages სექტა (Sect), მეხუთე რეიხი (Fifth Reich), რეალობა (Reality), მიხეილ უკრაინოლოგი (Mikheil Ukrainologi) and ანტილიბერალური დოქტრინა (Antiliberal Doctrine) as well as Facebook users გაბრიელ კამაევი (Gabriel Kamaevi), Oboladze Gia, Mindo Mandela and Nino Labartkava spread identical photos depicting Elene Khoshtaria, an opposition politician, holding a spray paint in her hand. Khoshtaria is standing in front of a police officer with a temporary wall erected behind the latter. The...
Activists gathered outside the Central Election Commission (CEC) on November 8 to protest ballot rigging and demand the resignation of CEC chair Tamar Zhvania, as well as holding of snap elections. Riot police dispersed the rally using water cannons. Like during previous rallies, pro-government trolls again intensified their efforts amid protests, trying to discredit the...
On October 20, xnews.ge published an article titled “Nika Melia’s Election Headquarters are Closed, Likely due to the Headquarters Members being Diagnosed with Coronavirus”. The article mentions that xnews received information from “a source”, without specifying the latter. Later, geotimes.com.ge disseminated the identical information based on xnews. News disseminated by xnews.ge and geotimes.com.ge is disinformation. Myth Detector contacted the election headquarters of Nika Melia. According to...
Update: In the originally published article “Myth Detector” claimed that the rabbi Amnon Yitzhak is an animated character. While the character is indeed animated in the Шок-инфo’s video, rabbi Amnon Yitzhak is a real person, who often spreads conspiracies regarding the new world order, United Nations, the pope, coronavirus and others. In February 2021, because of spreading...
On September 30, Facebook user Shore Shanidze published Nino Bregadze’s post on her personal profile, according to which World Bank has established the pandemic period until 2025. Post also discusses World Bank financing current experiments in developing countries and Georgia’s participation in it. Shanidze also writes that they have been working on a coronavirus vaccine...
Spreading anti-Turkish messages is a part of an electoral campaign carried out by the Alliance of Patriots (AoP) under the name “Protect Adjara! Protect your part of Georgia!” The leaders of the party – Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi and Irma Inashvili – label Turkey as an invader and refer to a map published by a Turkish newspaper...
On August 3, the host Nino Ratishvili of the program “Night Studio” of Obiektivi TV invited homeopath Tinatin Topuria who spoke about deceased elderly people in Italy and Spain in times of pandemic. According to her claims, those people who had flu and pneumococcal vaccines died in nursing homes. Topuria also stated that the cause...
On August 11, 2020, Levan Vasadze posted a video-address to Bidzina Ivanishvili on Facebook. Together with other issues, he reviews the case of separating a three-year-old baby from a single mother by a social worker. Based on this specific incident, Vasadze discusses the negative consequences Child Rights’ Code in general and claims that the Code...
On August 4, an online edition Georgia and World published an interview with Levan Chachua, leader of the public movement Georgian Idea, headlined “Levan Chachua: Georgia will soon have a subdivision of juvenile fascists.” The respondent speaks about separation of three-year-old Nikoloz from his mother, noting that the only reason behind this separation is the...
New details uncovered in the case of late Tamar Bachaliashvili and the mistrust declared by her family towards investigation prompted pro-government actors to discredit Tamar Bachaliashvili’s father, Jumber Bachaliashvili. After an intensive five-day search for 23-year-old Tamar Bachaliashvili, police found her body in her own car in a forest near Tetritskaro on July 22. The...
On July 27, Arno Khidirbehishvili, the Editor-in-Chief of Saqinform, mentioned in his article published on Saqinform that Mikheil Saakashvili signed an agreement that allows Russia to demand from Georgia to allow a passage of military cargo through its territory under force majeure situations. An internet-program “Salte” disseminated identical information on July 19, where the host of the program and a former member of the...
Speaking about the COVID-19 pandemic during Obieqtivi TV program “Gamis Studia” (Night Studio) on July 9, Nona Agdgomelashvili, a Georgian astropsychologist, said that a surprise outbreak is not typical for this type of pandemic and that it was plotted long ago. Referring to the statement made by Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute...
On July 1, US Ambassador in Georgia Kelly Degnan stated during the international online conference organized by the Georgian Institute of Politics that Georgia is a target of Kremlin disinformation and Russia may try to interfere in Georgia’s parliamentary elections. According to Degnan, the fact that Georgia is moving towards a proportional system increases the...
On June 23, Facebook user Shore Shanidze published a post on her page highlighting the issue of mandatory vaccination. Shanidze claims that Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has signed a commitment, along with sixty other countries, on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. Shanidze refers to Imedinews as its source of information. However, the news story published by...
On June 11, Nino Ratishvili, host of Obieqtivi TV’s Gamis Studia (Night Studio) program, and Tina Topuria, a homeopath invited to the program, spoke about COVID-19 vaccination. Nino Ratishvili claimed that the existence of a vaccination summit may become a signal for making vaccination mandatory in “the third countries” as well as for launching experiments...
On June 11, Facebook pages and groups spread a fake screenshot of on.ge’s article headlined “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin is a racist poem and should be banned, because it frequently uses the words ‘Negro slave’.” The screenshot involves Public Defender Nino Lomjaria’s photo and the quotation is just ascribed to her. Facebook profile...
Based on open source information, the Myth Detector has analyzed the pages run by Irakli Jankarashvili as well as the platforms associated with him, identifying the links between pro-government, antiliberal and pro-Russian platforms. Irakli Jankarashvili runs the page “ანტილიბერალური დოქტრინა” (Antiliberal Doctrine) and a group “ამხილე პორტირებული ნაცები” (Disclose Ported Natsis, referring to the opposition...
A Facebook page „სტალინი“ (“Stalin”) has been re-introducing old conspiracy theories about the Lugar Laboratory in the context of the coronavirus threat. By re-sharing archive materials, the page creates a false perception that the dissemination of coronavirus is connected to Lugar Lab and the United States. On May 1, a Facebook page “Stalin” shared a...
On April 7, online edition Georgia and World published an article headlined “Coronavirus Changes World Order.” The author of the article, Giorgi Gachechiladze refers to Fondsk.ru as its source and claims that a threat of COVID-19 is exaggerated, because the measles epidemic and H1N1 (swine flu) had much severe consequences. However, it should be noted...
Narmin Ayvazova Narmin Ayvazova is doing her third academic year at the Faculty of Economy and Business at Tbilisi State University, majoring in Tourism and Business Administration. She currently serves as a PR representative of Salam platform, is an attendee at Caucasian House’s Public University, and is a participant of Emerging Leaders School (ELS) by...
Nestan Ananidze Nestan Ananidze is a third-year law student at Tbilisi State University. Nestan is currently a member of the “Solidarity Platform” of the “Human Rights and Monitoring Center (EMC)”. In addition, she is a member of the non-governmental organization “Civic Hall” and her civic activism is aimed at the development of the regions of...
After exposing, through open sources, fake profiles (14 trolls) with close ties to the pro-Russian political party, Alliance of Patriots, the Myth Detector additionally revealed a Facebook page (“Real Opposition”) and three groups (“Reasonable Georgia,” “Against Enemies of the Country,” “Prison Awaits UNM Mob!!!”), also with close links to the Alliance of Patriots, which, in...
Several publications released by the Myth Detector in February 2020 about disinformation spread by Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi, one of the leaders of the Alliance of Patriots party, triggered active engagement of suspicious Facebook accounts. Fake users are mainly commenting on the materials targeting the leaders of the Alliance of Patriots party and accusing them of spreading...
Laura Thornton, former resident director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Georgia, who served on this position since 2014, will now hold the position of Global Program Manager at International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in Stockholm. The process of selecting NDI’s new resident director in Georgia is underway. A number of...
Disinformation and propaganda are currently the biggest threat to national security, says Nino Goguadze, MP in Georgia and the former member of the parliamentary inquiry group dedicated specially to there for these issues. The group was launched earlier this year – not as a response to any specific event, Goguadze elucidates – in order to...
Using videos out of their context to spread fake news is nothing new. However, the latest concern when it comes to disinformation are so-called ‘deep fakes,’ manipulated videos created with artificial intelligence. Deepfakes can make it look like somebody did or said something he or she actually didn’t: There’s Obama insulting President Trump (“President Trump...
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. Abraham Lincoln “Around the world, government actors are using social media to manufacture consensus, automate suppression, and undermine trust in the liberal international order,” according to the report...
The Parliament’s November 14 decision to vote down the constitutional amendment on transition to fully proportional electoral system from 2020 triggered large-scale protests outside the Parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue. On November 18, the Georgian government used riot police to disperse the peaceful protest rally. Protests resumed outside the Parliament building on November 25 and...
On December 5, 2019, web site batumeli.cc published an information about the release of Vazha Gaprindashvili with following title “Good news has been spread at the moment: doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili will be at home by tonight – You cannot imagine who released the doctor.” The material bases on Nino Burjanadze, however Burjanadze was mentioned in the...
False reports circulate in Georgia, apparently fanning fears of the EU and Western European values. Various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have identified such examples and try to correct them with fact-checks. But it is much more effective to curb the spread of such false reports. This can be achieved with media literacy. Such knowledge is important...
The Parliament’s November 14 decision to vote down the constitutional amendment on transition to fully proportional electoral system from 2020 triggered large-scale protests outside the Parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue. The protesters, among them opposition parties, are demanding replacement of the electoral system by the so called “German model.” On November 18, the Georgian government...
A Georgian-Swedish movie “And then We Danced” was shown in Georgian cinemas on November 8, 9, 10. Screening of the movie was met with protest and violent actions from hate groups. Facebook pages affiliated with hate groups and pro-Russian actors were disseminating fake and manipulated context about the movie with the aim of mobilizing public...
On September 20, news agency Interpressnews (IPN) released a paid article headlined “Nino Burjanadze – It should be noted that neither NDI, nor IRI have assessed May 26.” Nino Burjanadze, leader of the Democratic Movement – United Georgia party, commented on the recent NDI-commissioned public opinion poll, covering, among other issues, the June 20 developments,...
In the interview with Imedi TV on September 18, Georgian judoka, Gela Zaalishvili said that the rules have changed in judo and athletes may be disqualified for crossing themselves. Manipulations on this issue were spread on various pages, including on Facebook page “Dedakalaki” (Capital), and later shared by Erovneba-Kartveli (Nationality-Georgian). After a couple of hours,...
On September 10, at the 5th Tbilisi International Conference, organized by the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) and the McCain Institute for International Leadership, the former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen voiced an initiative that the Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty be enacted for occupied Georgian terriotires only after the country...
On September 9, 2019 (date of publishing an article is changed on daily basis) Russian-language website pressa-segodnya.online published an article entitled, “Student Wunderkind from Georgia is Granted a Highest Medical Award of the Country for Discovery the Treatment of Papilloma Virus and Parasites” (Студент-вундеркинд из Грузии получил высшую медицинскую награду страны за открытие способа лечения...
After Georgian media outlets misinterpreted the remarks made by former NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Russian news agency RIA Novosti falsified Rasmussen’s quotes. According to the article released by RIA Novosti on September 10, Rasmussen offers Georgia to join NATO without Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia. The quotes do not include the fragment, where...
On September 8, 2019, a TV report about the Anaklia Port was aired on NTV, a Russian state television. An NTV journalist tried to frame the issue as if the construction of Anaklia Port is only in the interests of the United States. According to him, the idea of building Anaklia Port is associated with...
On July 12, the video was spread on Facebook, where Bishop Spiridon Abuladze preaches in Iveria Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral of Khitchauri about the threats existing in the country. The clergyman stated during the preaching that incest is legalized in American countries. Bishop Spiridon’s statement is a disinformation, since incest is most severely punished in the USA....
On April 9, the host of talk-show “Night Studio” of TV Obieqtivi, Nino Ratishvili and online edition “Georgia and the World” (Geworld) publications of April 11 develop the opinion, that the country does not need anti-tank system Javelin acquired by Georgia from USA in 2018 and that it is useless. The author of Geworld material,...
Anti-NATO messages on the 70th Anniversary of the alliance, celebrated on April 4, intensified once again in Georgia. Different groups were trying to portray NATO in a negative context. Among them were politicians, Georgian-language pro-Kremlin editions, Russian Media and ultra-leftist Facebook pages. During the period of celebration of the 70th anniversary of NATO messages revived...
On March 11, 2018, the host of a TV show Night Studio on TV channel Obiektivi, Nino Ratishvili, stated that the 2008 Presidential Snap Elections in Georgia were rigged and the West never showed any interest in the fact that voters’ opinions were neglected. The assessment, that the West allegedly rigged presidential elections of 2008...
Over the past two months, pro-Russian actors have been continuously raising the issue of construction of deep sea ports in Georgia that may be linked to several issues. After the Prosecutor’s Office publicly announced on January 9 about the ongoing investigation against TBC Bank, the leading Georgian banking company, the issue of the Anaklia...
Zviad Dzidziguri, the representative of the ruling party and the vice-speaker of the parliament of Georgia develops the narrative of Nino Burjanadze, the leader of the pro-Russian party “Democratic Movement-United Georgia”, regarding then newly granted autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church. Like Nino Burjanadze, Zviad Dzidziguri also tries to demonstrate that recognition of the autocephaly of...
On January 9, 2019, Nino Burjanadze, the leader of pro-Russian party “Democratic Movement” held a press-conference where she spoke about the autocephaly of Ukraine. According to Burjanadze, if the Georgian Church recognizes the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church, the Russian Patriarchate will recognize the independence of the Church of Abkhazia. On the same day, Nino...
Disinformation and conspiracy theories related to swine flu have gone viral in social media and tabloids recently. According to the three most widespread conspiracy theories about swine flu: Swine flu was spread from the Lugar Laboratory; Swine flu is an artificially created epidemic and it is linked with business interests; Bananas imported to Georgia are...
Dimitri Lortkipanidze, director of the Primakov Georgian-Russian Public Center, said in the interview with a web portal, Georgia and World, on December 12 that lifting the ban on agricultural land sales to foreign nationals was the European Union’s categorical demand related to the EU-Georgia Association Agreement. Lortkipanidze also noted that the part of the Association...
On November 21, 2018, Facebook page “არქივარიუსი – Archivist” published an interview from the 2009 year’s edition of the newspaper Карнавал, where “Archivist” claims that Grigol Vashadze speaks about his personal life and recalls that he was working in the porn-industry in New York. In addition to the interview, the newspaper published three photos, one...
Ana Khoshtaria Ana Khoshtaria graduated from the faculty of journalism. She studied public relations in GAU. Presently, Ana is a master’s student at the Media Researches Department in Ilia State University. She underwent an internship at Ratio Tavisupleba and the internet outlet www.on.ge. Ana is a Public Relations Manager for a private school. Contest Material:...
Grigori Aivazishvili Grigori Aivazishvili is a student of International Relations faculty of the School of Social Sciences at The University of Georgia. Since 2017, he has been involved in the parliamentary internship program of the Student Parliament. Grigori also cooperates with various student clubs. He is interested in International Law and his hobbies are photography...
Statements that hold that the integration of Georgia in the Western institutions is allegedly the same as violating the sovereignty of the country periodically appear in the Georgian media. For instance, a host of the Night Studio on TV Obiektivi, Nino Ratishvili, while discussing pro-Russian political parties with a political scientist Tamar Kiknadze on October...
On November 4, Obieqtivi TV aired some fragments of Russian TV Россия 1’s talk show 60 Minutes, where Nino Burjanadze, leader of the Democratic Movement, draws parallels between Russia’s military intervention in Georgia in August 2008 and occupation of Ukraine’s territory in 2014. Burjanadze claims that the new Ukrainian government repeats the same mistakes that...
On November 6, 2017, Nino Ratishvili, host of the television program on Obieqtivi TV, as well as leaders of the Alliance of Patriots, Irma Inashvili and Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi, discussed new preschool education standards approved by the government in a homophobic context and described them as an imposed obligation aimed at changing the traditional roles of...
Irakli Iagorashvili Irakli Iagorashvili is a student at the Faculty of Science and Arts of Ilia State University. He has been engaged in civil activism since 2013. He has participated in the projects by UN Association–Advancing National Integration in Georgia (ANI) and Promoting Integration Tolerance and Awareness (PITA). In 2015, he was in the United...
On July 31, news agency Interpressnews published an article entitled “Nino Burjanadze: America has sent us pumpers and water after the war in 2008“. Below the article, a sign NS is indicated, which denotes that the information is provided by the signatories. With the above mentioned sign, the editorial board publishes materials supplied by its...
Commenting on the issue of allowing the pro-Kremlin biker group Night Wolves to enter Georgia, Nino Burjanadze, leader of Democratic Movement – United Georgia party, made the following statement: Nino Burjanadze, Democratic Movement – United Georgia: “The Night Wolves were allowed to enter Berlin and Warsaw; why should not they be allowed to enter Georgia?! What...
On April 7, as a response to the Syrian governmental forces’ offensive on the city of Khan-Shaykhun in Idlib province (April 4), the United States implemented a cruise missile attack on Shayrat Airbase. Several Pro-Kremlin media outlets, politicians and members of public voiced their response towards this event and noted that the Syrian government has...
On January 16, a representative of Global Research Center, Nana Devdariani stated that the EU is a bureaucratic system that has not been elected by anyone, so the EU pushes its own will towards its member and non-member states. Nana Devdariani, Global Research Center: “There is a huge discontent not only in the United States, but...
Disinformation about introducing visa-free regime by the USA to Belarus, first voiced on October 31 by information agency TB24 and Geomedia TV, was repeated by Elizbar Javelidze in November 7-11 issue of Asaval-Dasavali newspaper. More precisely, he noted that: “Here, our ‘big friend’, America, introduced a visa-free regime to Belarus, while our people have to go through long lines and misery...
Brīvības un Solidaritātes Fonds released the publication “Resisting Foreign State Propaganda in the New Information Environment: the case of the EU, Russia, and the Eastern Partnership countries”. The book collects expert opinions regarding policy responses against Russian propaganda efforts both at EU level and within EaP countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova), provides in-depth analysis of current...
On September 6, during the talk-show “Political Night” on TV Company “Obiektivi”, Nana Devdariani, head of the “Global Research Center”, stated that the electronic system of voting in the U.S. allows any person to go to the supermarket, buy plastic cards – then get into the system and do whatever they want. This statement is not true,...
Tata Tsopurashvili Modern Georgian clergy talks a lot about women, but not about the women whose lives are systematically lost to domestic violence in our country. Clerics and the Patriarch often remind us that woman is obliged to obey her husband and “wash his feet”, and that home as the place for woman’s self-realization has...
“Orthodox Christianity, one of traditional denominations of Europe, historicallywas the state religion in Georgia which has formed the Georgian culture, national worldview and values.” The Constitutional Agreement between the Georgian state and the Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia, Preamble, 14 October 2002. Europe and the United States sheltered theologians and Christian thinkers persecutedby Russia...
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