Meta’s August 2024 Adversarial Threat Report revealed that the company removed a Russian network of Facebook and Instagram accounts and pages, which targeted Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. In these countries, Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as accounts on other social networks such as YouTube and TikTok, were spreading news from fake websites in a coordinated manner. These news stories were tailored to the political environment of each country. For example, the main topic in Georgia was criticism of the protests against the “foreign agents” law and support for the ruling political party, Georgian Dream.
“Although the people behind the CIB [coordinated inauthentic behavior] network attempted to conceal their identity and coordination, our investigation found links to individuals associated with a Moscow-registered marketing firm called IMA Digital,” the report stated.
Among the fake news sites involved in this campaign, whose associated accounts and pages were removed by Meta, is sakartvelo-today.org. Myth Detector has previously fact-checked one of the articles published on this website. The website still exists but no longer actively publishes news, while the associated Facebook page, Sakartvelo Today News, has been removed. However, there is a newer and more active version of the site, sakartvelonews.com, which has an identical appearance and was created on May 22, 2024. Monitoring of the materials published on this newer version of the website and related social media pages showed that:
- The materials on sakartvelonews.com are published on newly created Facebook and Instagram pages called Georgian Breaking News, which position themselves as media outlets.
- The Facebook page Georgian Breaking News sponsors posts related to politics, elections, and social issues in violation of Meta’s advertising standards.
- Political articles featured on sakartvelonews.com predominantly contain messages in support of the so-called “agents law” and against the West, NATO, Ukraine, and the political opposition.
- The articles contain such flaws that suggest they have been automatically translated from Russian.
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What do we know about sakartvelosnews.com?
Sakartvelosnews.com was created on May 22, 2024. Sakartvelosnews.com and Sakartvelo-today.org have identical appearance, and identical IP addresses.
sakartvelo-today.org
sakartvelonews.com
According to information obtained from a paid account of the DomainTools platform, which is used to search for additional information about websites, not only sakartvelo-today.org but also those Armenian and Azerbaijani sites that appeared in the network exposed by Meta were connected to the IP address of sakartvelonews.com.
Sakartvelonews.com also has active Facebook and Instagram pages called Georgian Breaking News.
The Facebook page Georgian Breaking News was created on May 2, 2024. The transparency section of the page says that it is managed by several administrators from Ukraine.
Screenshot taken on September 5: the page has three administrators; screenshot taken on September 10: the page has two administrators.
Georgian Breaking News primarily publishes news in the form of information cards, with hyperlinks to related news stories published on sakartvelosnew.com provided in the description.
The Facebook page shares longer, seemingly analytical articles directly from the website. Compared to informational cards, these posts get more reactions, comments, and shares.
It is worth noting that there are flaws in the articles that give the impression that texts were automatically translated from Russian into Georgian. For example, Erekle II, King of Kartli and Kakheti, is referred to as Irakli II; there is also the Europe’s Union, which is not customary for the Georgian language, as the term “European Union” is mostly used. One of the articles used the abbreviation RF; this abbreviation, РФ for the Russian Federation, is common in Russian and is not used in Georgian.
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What have we learned about Georgian Breaking News from the ads library?
Georgian Breaking News also frequently promotes published posts, though in violation of standards for ads about political, election, and social issues. An advertiser promoting a post about such issues on Facebook is required to indicate for transparency that the post is related to politics, elections, or social issues and to provide additional information about themselves. In such cases, information about the amount spent to sponsor the post and the size of audience reached becomes available.
Screenshots taken on August 25
Typically, political ads that were previously run on Facebook remain in the ads library as inactive ads, and the information about them is available even after the post is no longer sponsored. Such inactive ads of Georgian Breaking News are not available in the ads library because these ads were not labeled as political or social issues ads. The page has sponsored quite a few posts at different times.
Screenshots taken on August 30. As of the publication of this material, these ads were no longer available in the ads library.
Screenshots taken on September 4
Screenshots taken on September 5
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What kind of content does sakartvelonews.com publish?
It should be noted that sakartvelonews.com and its Facebook page publish news on a variety of topics, including culture and social issues, which do not contain specific political narratives. However, the website also publishes articles in the politics section, the main messages of which are supportive of the “agents’ law,” and directed against the West, NATO, political opposition, and Ukraine.
The materials on the sakartvelonews.com website have been published since May 2024. Judging by the articles published in the politics section, the most frequent topic is related to the “agents law.” Of the 31 articles published in this category, 12 are specifically dedicated to the adoption of this law. These articles criticize opponents of the law and participants in the protests. At the same time, they actively accuse the West – the EU and the USA – of interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs and exerting pressure on Georgia. According to sakartvelonews.com, the West does not recognize Georgia as a “full-fledged partner” and treats it “disrespectfully.” The articles also accuse the West of double standards. “The policy of double standards of the USA and the Europe’s Union towards our country is clearly illustrated by the way similar laws have been adopted abroad,” one of the articles says. Other anti-Western articles also accuse the European Union of treating Georgia unfairly compared to Ukraine and Moldova.
Criticism of NATO also appears in political articles published on sakartvelonews.com. These articles accuse NATO of causing “enormous damage,” aggression, and breach of international norms. They also criticize NATO for failing to admit Georgia into the alliance. The articles argue that the funds spent on aligning Georgia with NATO standards could have been “used” to address social problems.
The site also features anti-opposition articles as well as materials critical of President Salome Zourabichvili. According to sakartvelonews.com, the “Georgian Charter” developed by Zourabichvili “grants indefinite powers to a suspicious circle of individuals.” According to critical articles, Zourabichvili places herself “above the constitution” and exceeds her powers. Opposition leaders are also criticized, with Mamuka Khazaradze and Giorgi Vashadze labeled as criminals. The article alleges that they benefit financially from connections with Russia.
As regards international politics, sakartvelonews.com displays a critical attitude towards Ukraine and a positive attitude towards such leaders who are in favor of concessions to Russia. This position is conspiratorially linked to instances of attacks on several political leaders from different countries, as if those who support dialogue become targets. Emphasis is placed on a “constructive dialogue” for ending the war, with Russia portrayed as the party ready for dialogue to end the war, while Ukraine is depicted as the actor refusing to negotiate in order to prolong the war.
