On 21 August, pro-government media outlets, including POSTV, Rustavi 2 and Imedi, disseminated cards with identical content targeting non-governmental organizations and their representatives.

The cards presented NGO statements in a discrediting context. In those statements, the organizations criticized the government’s rhetoric and described it as “anti-state, Kremlin-style narratives.” In a joint statement, the organizations called on citizens not to follow disinformation and discord spread by Russian propaganda. They also emphasized the need to secure the release of political prisoners, free and fair elections, democratic governance, and the protection of human rights.

The coordinated dissemination of cards with similar content can be assessed as a continuation of the ongoing discrediting campaign against civil society and the media. The use of formulations such as “agency” and “foreign-funded NGOs” aims to undermine the legitimacy of non-governmental organizations, call their public work into question, and reinforce a hostile environment toward civic activism.

In addition, a video aimed at discrediting Eka Gigauri, Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia, was also disseminated on a Facebook page affiliated with Georgian Dream. The video uses a fragment of Gigauri’s statement in which she speaks about people who, in exchange for money, engage in actions harmful to the country. The accompanying caption presents Gigauri as if she is making this assessment about herself.