On July 25, the YouTube channel of the investigative media outlet “Monitor” was disabled. In a released statement, the media outlet notes that a coordinated cyberattack was carried out against them:
“3 of our materials were appealed (so-called reported) on YouTube: the first concerns the Hermès collection of Ana Areshidze, the wife of the Mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze; the second material concerns sanctioned judges; and the third is a part of our extensive journalistic investigation, which concerns the change in the excise price on cigarettes – it satisfied the business interests of Vano Chkhartishvili, a businessman close to the government,” the statement reads.
“Monitor” considers these types of attacks as another attempt to silence independent media and restrict the provision of objective information to the public. “However, they will not be able to hinder our activities with such methods,” the statement notes.
It is noteworthy that a coordinated attack on “Monitor’s” social networks was previously recorded in early July, when Meta deleted several of “Monitor’s” materials following so-called reports. As noted in the statement of “Monitor,” Meta restored the materials after an appeal.
This time, “the ‘Monitor’ team is actively working to resolve the problem caused by the coordinated attack and to restore the channel (referring to YouTube) in a timely manner,” the statement reads.