The Speaker of Parliament from “Georgian Dream,” Shalva Papuashvili, verbally insulted the television company “Formula” and journalist Salome Labadze.
The question posed by the “Formula” journalist concerned Georgia’s national hero, Maro Makashvili.
In response to the question, “Who killed Maro Makashvili?”, Shalva Papuashvili called the “Formula” journalist “shameful” and “funded by Kezerashvili.”
“You and your television channel spread shameful propaganda that seeks political speculation. I will not answer any such questions,” Papuashvili said (5:29 min).
Among politicians from “Georgian Dream” who verbally insult journalists from critical media, Shalva Papuashvili is the most active, and CMIS has documented numerous examples of this behavior.
On January 26, 2026, Formula TV journalist Nano Chakvetadze had her phone confiscated, the footage recorded on site was deleted, and she was threatened with arrest.
According to information reported by the media, a Formula journalist was covering the death of an employee of the Anti-Corruption Agency near the building of the State Security Service (SSS), when the media representative was obstructed while performing her professional duties.
“We tried to film footage and ask questions to investigators, but first they forcibly took our phone, and then, again using force, made us leave the area,” says Formula TV journalist Nano Chakvetadze.
The incident was addressed by the Media Advocacy Coalition. “Pressure on journalists and the unlawful restriction of their work constitute a gross violation of media freedom. We stand in solidarity with Nano Chakvetadze and all representatives of independent media who are forced to work and inform the public in an extremely challenging environment,” the coalition’s statement reads.
The Speaker of Parliament from “Georgian Dream“, Shalva Papuashvili, responded to a report aired on the pro-government TV channel Imedi targeting the association of independent online media outlets, Light Media, attempting to discredit and intimidate them.
Shalva Papuashvili said that online media outlets are bypassing the law and accused them of committing “criminal” offenses.
“[Online media outlets] invent schemes to circumvent legislation, and part of this scheme involves violating restrictions when money moves undeclared across the territory of Georgia. Therefore, of course, attention must be paid to all of this. Those whose competence this falls under are monitoring these processes. Wherever they detect signs of a crime, there will be an appropriate response,” said Shalva Papuashvili.
On November 23, the pro-government TV channel Imedi aired a propagandistic report against Light Media. Light Media is a coalition of 22 independent online media outlets formed after laws and legislative changes adopted by the Georgian Dream parliament placed online media in a dire situation. The report broadcast on Imedi, aimed at discrediting these outlets, claimed that the media were supposedly working on the orders of “foreign intelligence services” and were engaged in “anti-state” activities.
The Public Relations Department of the Georgian Patriarchate announced that on October 14, due to a violation of internal regulations, the film crews of the TV companies “TV Pirveli” and “Formula” will not be accredited for the upcoming church holidays.
“Today, October 14, for violating the internal regulations in the courtyard of the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, under the pretext of journalistic activity, despite repeated warnings, and for arbitrarily leaving the space allocated for the press, the film crews of TV Pirveli and TV Formula will not be accredited for the upcoming church holidays,” the statement said.
The Patriarchate has imposed additional regulations for the media since 2022. Journalists need to obtain special accreditation to cover church events, and they can only work in zones specially designated for the media.
On October 9, 2025, the Communications Commission issued a written warning to the television broadcasters “Formula” and “Formula Multimedia”, as well as the radio broadcasters “Journalists’ Union Khalkis Khma”, “Radio-TV Nori” and “Systema Gama” and ordered them to cease receiving funding from foreign powers for violating the Law of Georgia “On Broadcasting”.
According to the Commission’s statement: “Based on the fact that the broadcasters have received the above-mentioned funding after the law was amended and funding from foreign powers was prohibited, and the funding cannot be used in exceptional cases specified by law (commercial advertising, teleshopping, sponsorship or product placement in the program)”, the Commission considered the broadcasters to be violators of the law.
This is the first precedent for the enforcement of the law, which concerns the new regulation included in the Law on Broadcasting, which prohibits direct or indirect funding of a broadcaster from a foreign power from April 1, 2025. Since the date of adoption, the amendments have caused public discussion and criticism, in particular, assessments that the new norm may become a tool for restricting the financial and editorial freedom of independent media. During the session, representatives of radio broadcasters noted that without the aforementioned funding, they may have to stop broadcasting.
