On April 4, David Mikaberidze, a member of the Zestaponi Municipal Council from the Georgian Dream party, and Facebook accounts (1, 2) published identical photos taken at a protest. The photo shows a woman carrying a white bag with the inscription: “Fire to the Pussy.”
Another fabricated photo from the protest is being circulated. In reality, the photo was taken by the online publication Netgazeti, and the phrase “Fire to the Oligarchy” is written on the protester’s bag.
On March 27, another protest was held in Tbilisi, and demonstrators blocked Rustaveli Avenue. The photo circulating on social media was taken on this day on Rustaveli Avenue and belongs to the online media outlet Netgazeti. The media logo is also visible on the fabricated photo.
In the evening of March 27, Netgazeti published photos taken in front of the Georgian Parliament. Among them is the photo, an altered version of which was posted on Facebook a few days later. In the authentic photo, the woman is holding a white bag with the phrase “Fire to the Oligarchy” written on it. This phrase is often chanted by protest participants as well.
Thus, the photo circulating on social media, showing a woman with the phrase “Fire to the Pussy” written on her bag, has been edited. These kinds of tactics are often used to discredit protest participants and activists. Many fabricated photos have also circulated on social media, showing demonstrators holding banners with altered inscriptions, which have been systematically fact-checked by the Myth Detector.
About the source:
David Jebashvili has been spreading disinformation through two accounts on social media (1, 2). Myth Detector has fact-checked numerous posts he has published to discredit the current protest and activists.
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