Statements
Coordinated inauthentic behaviour by the Georgian government in social networks must be investigated!
05.05.2023
According to the quarterly report released by META, the company has deleted 80 Facebook accounts, 26 pages, 9 groups and 2 Instagram accounts due to coordinated inauthentic behavior. Groups supporting Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili and other pro-government accounts have also been deleted.
Based on the report, “Although the people behind this operation attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation found links to the Strategic Communications Department of the Government Administration of Georgia”. The network in question often used the comment function to spread inauthentic, false information to the public in order to create a desired social dynamic. The network also tried to promote pro-government messages, discredit the opposition and civic activists. The report also emphasizes that all this was happening In the context of the "Foreign Agents Act". According to META, about 33,500 US dollars were spent on advertising the posts of pro-government networks on social networks.
Based on the report, “Although the people behind this operation attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation found links to the Strategic Communications Department of the Government Administration of Georgia”. The network in question often used the comment function to spread inauthentic, false information to the public in order to create a desired social dynamic. The network also tried to promote pro-government messages, discredit the opposition and civic activists. The report also emphasizes that all this was happening In the context of the "Foreign Agents Act". According to META, about 33,500 US dollars were spent on advertising the posts of pro-government networks on social networks.
It should also be underlined that various organizations and researchers have revealed the scheme of pages operating in support of the Georgian government and the ruling party in the past. The monitoring carried out by "ISFED" in 2021, revealed that the pages secretly connected to the government's Stratcom were performing the function of public relations of the Prime Minister and the ruling party and, at the same time, were running a discrediting campaign on the opposition.
The declared main task of the Department of Strategic Communications of the Government of Georgia is to support the long-term goals of the government. In this regard, the most important thing is to increase public awareness about the integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic structures defined by the Constitution of Georgia. It’s worrying that, contrary to its declared goals, StratCom department is involved in covert operations to mislead the citizens of Georgia.
Considering the extent of the damage that disinformation schemes can cause in Georgia’s political environment, we, the "Information Integrity Coalition", call on the Parliament of Georgia to use the oversight mechanisms at its disposal to investigate the disinformation schemes mentioned in the report, including creating a temporary investigative commission and/or contacting the State Audit Service.
რუსულ კანონმდებლობასთან ჰარმონიზაცია
მიხეილ ყაველაშვილმა 29 დეკემბერს ხელი მოაწერა შვიდამდე კანონს, რომლებიც ზღუდავს შეკრებისა და გამოხატვის თავისუფლებას, სამართლიანი სასამართლოს უფლებას.
08.01.2025
Georgian Dream starts persecuting independent, professional civil servants
On December 26, several cases of unjustified dismissal of civil servants became known to the public.
30.12.2024
საპროტესტო აქციებზე დაკავებული გიორგი წაქაძის ისტორია
საპროტესტო აქციებზე დემოკრატიის კვლევის ცენტრის თანამშრომელი გიორგი წაქაძე დააკავეს, რომელიც პოლიციის მხრიდან განხორციელებულ ძალადობაზე გვიყვება.
27.12.2024
