Samtskhe-Javakheti. UNICEF, in partnership with Media Development Foundation (MDF) and with the support of USAID Georgia is launching a series of media literacy trainings for children, young people and teachers. “The slogan of the campaign is “Do not get infected with misinformation!” and aims to provide young people with information and skills to enable them to identify, verify and disseminate their knowledge about misinformation about COVID-19. The first meeting was held in Akhaltsikhe”. Find out more… Source: www.unicef.org

Tbilisi. On 18 April, Transparency International Georgia will file suit in Tbilisi City Court to defend the rights of 24 journalists from TV companies Mtavari, Formula and TV Pirveli as well as On.ge, who suffered injuries during the 5 July 2021 event, as the state failed to fulfill its constitutional duty to ensure safety of their activity. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Kvemo-Kartli. A two-day training on “Ethical media coverage of women’s rights and LGBTQI issues” was held for media representatives in Marneuli. The training covered issues and topics such as gender equality on a workplace, gender-sensitive reporting, the sensitivity and responsibility of reporting on violence against women and LGBT people, definition of terms and gender-neutral vocabulary. The trainings are carried out by the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics with support of UN Women within the framework of the project “Ending Violence against Women and Girls in Georgia”, implemented by UN Women and UNFPA with the support of the European Union. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On April 1-3, IDFI conducted a two-day training on effective oversight and data extraction methods. The training was attended by journalists and civil activists from different regions of Georgia - a total of 16 participants. “Theoretical and practical training included tips and recommendations – detection of public procurement fraud, budget spending and oversight, extraction of knowledge from open government data, and more. Furthermore, participants had the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information on vital issues in the context of the transparency of Beneficial ownership, as well as familiarize themselves with international platforms for investigative/data journalists and watchdogs”. Learn more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. As it is known to the public, GYLA represents and protects the victims' rights of the violent events of July 5-6, 2021. At this stage, organization is involved in the case of 19 people. “On April 4, Tbilisi City Court announced sentences in the case of Lekso Lashkarava, Miranda Baghaturia, Vakhtang Kareli, Ilia Tvaliashvili, Rati Tsverava, and Dea Mamiseishvili. To thoroughly examine the matter, GYLA's lawyers apply to the Tbilisi City Court with a request to hand over a reasoned/substantiated sentence following the law”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International-Georgia appeals to the Public Defender of Georgia to establish a possible discrimination and obstruction of labor activities against members of the Public Broadcaster's “Akhali Kvira” program, Imeda Darsalia, Sopho Zedelashvili and Tamta Janadze. “The Georgian legislation guarantees the independence of the Public Broadcaster from political and commercial influence. It is important that the journalists are able to carry out their professional activities in an environment free from censorship”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The practice of creating obstacles for independent journalists from the Russian Federation while entering Georgia in parallel with the ongoing war in Ukraine raises doubts that David Frenkel, was not allowed to enter Georgia on a discriminatory basis due to his journalistic work. The member organization of the coalition "Rights Georgia" on behalf of David Frenkel has already submitted the administrative complaint before the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and demanded the annulment of the decision on denial of entry. Read more... Source: rights.ge

Tbilisi. On March 9, 2022 one of the last court hearings against Nika Gvaramia is scheduled in the Tbilisi City Court. The court might pass a verdict at the same hearing. “Transparency International Georgia after assessing the case materials as well as considering Georgian legislation, court practice, legal doctrine, and the facts of the case came to the conclusion that it has not been proved that Nika Gvaramia committed the crime of embezzlement of property rights, commercial bribery, creation and use of the false official document and money laundering. A proper assessment of circumstances related to the charges against Nika Gvaramia is important for ensuring the rights and freedoms of individuals, as well as for the further development of case law. Therefore, we hope that the court will make a lawful and reasoned decision”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

The web page EUvsDisinfo publishes the blogpost: The Kremlin’s playbook: fabricating pretext to invade Ukraine – more myths... EUvsDisinfo established in 2015 to better forecast, address, and respond to the Russian Federation’s ongoing disinformation campaigns affecting the European Union, its Member States, and countries in the shared neighbourhood.  “Recently, we examined and debunked seven of the most prevalent and dangerous myths related to Ukraine”. Read more… Source: euvsdisinfo.eu

Tbilisi. The EUNEIGHBOURS east website publishes the blogpost: Be aware of disinformation: Think before you share. “These days it is more important than ever to be careful about disinformation online. Here are some tips on how to check content online”. Read more… Source: euneighbourseast.eu

Tbilisi. Media advocacy coalition calls on the Parliament of Georgia, the Communications Commission and operators of the electronic communications network to take effective measures to stop the operation of propaganda media outlets controlled by the Russian state and other media outlets of the Kremlin in Georgia. Read more… Source: transparency.ge Photo: Euronews Georgia

Tbilisi. According to the information of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, after being removed by Facebook (Meta) several times, having moved to other platforms and creating a TV channel, Alt-Info became active again on Facebook. “This time, the pro-Russian group has found an easier and more stable way to reach Facebook audience, as live broadcasts from the main page of the organization „Alt-News“ are now disseminated by pages, groups and Facebook profiles associated with the Conservative Movement party”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. On February 10, 2022, the students of Disinformation and Propaganda Studies, the joint program of IDFI and the University of Georgia, as well as to the students of the School of Social Sciences, UG had a chance to attend the workshop. “The workshop was devoted to the matters such as debunking fake news spread by the governments and the military on the frontline. Fact-checking mainstream media and the outlets of Russian proxies in the “Grey zones” from Crimea to Abkhazia”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Election (ISFED) prepared the survey: TikTok - Emerging Propaganda Ecosystem. “TikTok channels used for political campaigning appeared in Georgia in 2020, although they became noticeably active in 2021. As a result, attempts to influence voters’ opinions in the pre-election period went beyond the scale of what was seen on Facebook. Due to the activity of politically motivated actors, ISFED examined the pre-election trends and information manipulations on the platform”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Guria. On January 25, Guria Regional HUB hosted the awarding ceremony of the media competition winners. The competition aimed to promote the works of the regional CSOs and civic activists. The winners are: Journalists - Tamta Dolidze (Guria TV), Giorgi Girkelidze and Marina Chikhladze (Guria News) The media competition was organised within the framework of the EU and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung funded project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. EWMI-Access publishes the video telling about scientific, innovative and engaging methods that ACCESS partners used to counter disinformation and fake news and educate society about these topics. The video was prepared by Movement. Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) publishes a blog post: Political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram during the period of the 2021 elections. “According to the Facebook Advertising Library, political parties and their representatives/ candidates, participating in the elections, posted 8 126 political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram for the 2021 local self-government elections within the period from August 9 through November 6. Not less than USD 524 602 and not more than USD 536 086 were spent for this activity”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) considers that non-involvement of international experts in the process of examination related to the case of Lekso Lashkarava, as well as disproportionate dissemination of an expert conclusion, reduces confidence in the investigation process. “GYLA, in agreement with the family of Lekso Lashkarava, will continue to protect rights of the family during the process of ongoing investigations. A lawyer of the organization is going to apply to the investigative agency requesting to hand over the expert conclusion, while public will be informed about additional information right after we get thoroughly familiarized with the mentioned document”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition responds to facts of threatening statements and harassment committed against Keti Tutberidze, a journalist of Public Broadcaster. “The December 24 rally - related footage shows that participants of the rally surrounded the journalist and abused her verbally. Later, the aggression against the journalist continued also on a social network, which fact encourages violence against Keti Tutberidze. Members of the Coalition call on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to investigate facts of threatening statements and harassment committed against Keti Tutberidze and to take respective legal actions immediately”. Read more... Source: The website of the Coalition on a social network

Tbilisi. Europe Foundation announces winners for Georgia Shining Light Award. The prize for the best investigation went to the story - The Lost Country by Tamar Gelashvili, Studio Monitor. The piece uncovers systemic failure on the part of the Government of Georgia, which spent more than a billion GEL on water infrastructure over the last 10 years and failed to address the problem at hand. Read more… Source: epfound.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has released its final social media monitoring report for 2021. “From 2018, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, using open source social media, seeks to identify coordinated information campaigns, expose manipulative tactics and strategies, increase resilience against disinformation via voter awareness, and inform Facebook, the most popular platform in Georgia, about main findings”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. The Media Development Foundation (MDF) has published its annual report – “Hate speech - 2020”. “The purpose of the study is to identify various forms of hate speech in the media and public discourse and to reveal their sources”. Read more… Source: mdfgeorgia.ge