On October 14, the anti-opposition Facebook page “Enemies of the Country” released a video showcasing the march of the “unity – national movement” coalition. The video features coalition members Sofo Japaridze, Giorgi Vashadze, Gia Japaridze, and others leading the march. They are holding a banner that reads, “Tbilisi chooses unity.” Alongside the video of the politicians’ march, a voice can be heard saying “Sad sack, You pick a hand, and I’ll make it my toilet”. The author of the post included the caption: “Head is better.” In the comments, some users interpret the video as genuine and believe that similar remarks were made during the coalition march.
The video of the “unity – national movement” march has been edited to mislead viewers. In the original footage, no obscene remarks are heard, and the march takes place against a musical backdrop. The video in question was sourced from the Facebook Live stream of coalition member Sofo Japaridze.
On October 14, members of the “unity – national movement” coalition held a march in Tbilisi as part of their pre-election campaign. Initially, they engaged with the public, presenting their election program and promises to voters. The media also reported on the event.
The video circulating on social media is a fragment of Sofo Japaridze’s Facebook Live. The edited video is a clip taken from her live stream. On October 14, Japaridze hosted a live broadcast of the march on her personal Facebook account, in which she also participated. In the politician’s live stream, it is evident that Irakli Khvadagiani, who is number 8 on the coalition list, and Alexander Krevo-Asatiani, the deputy secretary for the party’s foreign affairs, also participated in the march.
The suspicion that the video was edited from Japaridze’s Facebook Live is supported by several details, including the identical camera angle and the buildings visible behind the march participants.
Unlike the video circulating on social media, no obscene remarks are heard in Sofo Japaridze’s live stream. The phrase in question is taken from one of the Georgian comedy series. In the pilot episode of the YouTube show “Chvents Gavimartebit” [We’ll also thrive], one of the characters says to another: [Timestamp: 8:20] “ Sad sack, You pick a hand, and I’ll make it my toilet”. The audio from the mentioned episode of the series is overlaid on the video of the “United National Movement” march, while in reality, the participants did not make any such remarks.
Parliamentary elections are set to take place on October 26 in Georgia. Alongside the pre-election process and party campaigns, disinformation and manipulative visual content are being disseminated on social media. “Myth Detector” actively monitors and systematically investigates posts containing such content.
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