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 in reality, it seeks to discredit the opposition during the pre-election period and reduce trust in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and election monitoring movements. Posts on the page have targeted:
- Opposition parties
- NGOs
- Actors critical of the Central Election Commission (CEC)
- Election monitoring movements like “My Voice” and “Observe.”
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What kind of posts does “Facts and Choice” publish?
In the categories of the “About Us” section, the page is listed as a non-governmental organization (NGO), but no further details about any organization are provided.
The page is quite active, with about 400 posts published between August 27 and September 16. “Facts and Choices” presents itself as an organization combating disinformation, but its Facebook activity is closely related to the promotion of government-affiliated experts’ evaluations of current political events. The page mainly publishes comments by Ghia Abashidze, Davit Chikhelidze, Tamta Megrelishvili, Zaal Anjaparidze, Mirian Karaulashvili, Giorgi Iakobashvili, and Zura Khachidze. Their opinions are shared by “Facts and Choices” both as posts and infographics.
These government-affiliated experts’ assessments primarily focus on criticizing and discrediting the opposition, particularly in the context of elections.
The page actively shares the opinion of government experts that the opposition is trying to discredit the CEC and intends to unjustifiably cast doubt on the election results in advance (1,2,3). Simultaneously, it posts messages in support of the CEC (1,2,3).
A series of discrediting posts targeted CEC member Ana Kobakhidze from the “Strategy Aghmashenebeli” party after she spoke about existing problems within the CEC (1,2,3). In these posts, she is accused of bias and incompetence.
After Transparency International Georgia criticized the CEC’s decision to hold a draw among commission members a week before election day instead of on election day, the organization and its executive director Eka Gigauri became the target of posts by “Facts and Choice” (1,2,3,4). Transparency International Georgia and Eka Gigauri were also targeted by government-affiliated experts quoted by “Facts and Choice” (1,2,3) following a September 12 hearing in the U.S. Senate, where Gigauri spoke about the so-called “foreign agents law.”
In the posts published by the page, the opposition and NGOs are often referred to as “radical” forces (1,2,3) seeking to implement a “revolutionary scenario” (1,2,3).
Posts have also discredited Nino Lomjaria and the election monitoring mission “My Voice,” established by 30 NGOs (1,2,3). These posts accuse the movement of falsehood, bias, and preparation for revolution.
Another election monitoring movement, “Observe,” has been labeled in posts (1,2,3) as affiliated with the “destructive” opposition, described as an “appendage of the United National Movement” and “UNM-NGO.”
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“Facts and Choices” violates Meta’s advertising standards
It’s noteworthy that the page violates Meta’s standards on ads related to politics, elections, and social issues. When sponsoring these types of posts, advertisers are required to disclose that the post is related to politics, elections, or social issues, as well as provide additional information about themselves. This makes it possible to view information about the amount spent on the post and its reach. Since “Facts and Choic” sponsors posts without following these guidelines, they are not stored in Meta’s Ad Library archive and are no longer available after the ad expires.