Tbilisi. GYLA publishes an interim assessment of the pre-election environment.

''The presidential candidates in the 2018 pre-election period had a possibility to hold pre-election campaign in a competitive environment. They introduced their programs and electoral promises to the voters through face-to-face meetings; however, the campaign was not free from interference, use of hate speech and xenophobic statements. Similar to the 2016-2017 years, the dissemination of the secret tapes was also problematic.

Hate speech and personal insults were disseminated through social media as well, which was directed both against various political entities, as well as against the NGOs. Such false information was disseminated through various sponsored pages/accounts. The source of funding of those pages/accounts is still unknown to the public'', is noted in the statement.

Source: gyla.ge