On November 24, the Prime Minister of Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze, stated that “associations funded from foreign countries are acting against the development of our country.”
He was responding to a report aired on Imedi’s Week on November 23, in which the pro-government media disseminated a disinformation piece against Light Media, a coalition of 22 independent online media outlets, referring to the media as “agents of foreign intelligence services” and accusing them of receiving funding through illegal means.
According to Irakli Kobakhidze, the goal of these media outlets is to “disrupt the processes of economic development.”
Before Irakli Kobakhidze commented on the report aired on the pro-government channel, the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, had already responded.
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.
On November 23, a segment aired on the pro-government television channel “Imedi” aimed at discrediting the platform “Sinatle Media.” “Sinatle Media” is an association of 21 independent online media outlets, created after legislative regulations passed by “Georgian Dream” placed media organizations in a difficult position. Specifically, laws passed in the spring restrict media from receiving grants, label them as conduits for “foreign forces,” and create the threat of criminal prosecution. The media outlets decided to form an association and request financial support from the public.
The title of the “Imedi” segment was “Foreign Intelligence Media Network.” The program’s host, Irakli Chikhladze, claimed that “it has been analyzed how foreign intelligence agencies operate with secret scenarios,” during which the aforementioned media outlets were portrayed as part of this scenario. In the subsequent 15-minute segment, it was repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the media outlets had received 17 million GEL in funding.
“Sinatle Media” responded to the disinformation segment aired on the pro-government channel with the following statement:
“Due to the segment prepared by ‘Imedi’ television, where Russian disinformation narratives and obvious lies deliberately fabricated by local propagandists are intertwined, we are submitting a joint statement to the self-regulatory body and demand a denial of the false information aired in the segment. We also demand live airtime to give us the opportunity to respond to these absurd accusations.”
On November 16, the Penitentiary Service released a public statement accusing the media outlets TV Pirveli and Formula of disseminating false information. The agency responded to stories circulated in the media, where prisoners spoke about the unbearable conditions in the prison, and their family members asked the Public Defender (Ombudsman) to start an urgent monitoring of the penitentiary system. They also demanded that the Ombudsman establish how many medical personnel serve the Gldani Prison and who is responsible for the spoiled food brought into the facility.
The Penitentiary Service responded to the prisoners’ accusations with a statement, noting that such problems do not exist in the system.
On November 15, the agency also dismissed as false a story aired on TV Pirveli’s Saturday program, in which a prisoner of conscience, Rezo Kiknadze, described the situation in the system in a letter.
This is not the first time that “Georgian Dream” and the institutions under its influence have attempted to discredit critical and independent media outlets.
On October 22, Mzia Amaghlobeli, the founder of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, who has been imprisoned for more than nine months, received the European Union’s highest human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize. This recognition of the journalist was followed by yet another attempt by pro-government television stations to discredit her.
Imedi TV published a series of propaganda-style social media posts about Mzia Amaghlobeli’s receipt of the Sakharov Prize. Among them were posts highlighting the Prime Minister from the Georgian Dream party referring to the journalist as a “foreign agent.”
Rustavi 2 published photos of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili together with Mzia Amaghlobeli and included a quote from Saakashvili about the journalist in the accompanying text – an apparent attempt to associate Amaghlobeli and her work with a political party.
Alongside Mzia Amaghlobeli, the Sakharov Prize was also awarded to imprisoned Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut. The Sakharov Prize honors individuals, groups, or organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the defense of freedom of expression.
On October 25, the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, once again tried to discredit Netgazeti. In a post published on his social media account, Shalva Papuashvili referred to Netgazeti as “a propaganda media outlet supporting terrorists.”
Papuashvili attached to his post a screenshot of a Netgazeti article in which the outlet referred to Zviad Kvaratskhelia, who was detained during a pro-European rally, as a “prisoner of conscience.” It was precisely this term that angered the Speaker of Parliament from the Georgian Dream party. Critical media outlets, including Netgazeti, often use the term “prisoner of conscience” when reporting on those detained during pro-European demonstrations.
Shalva Papuashvili frequently attempts to discredit critical media outlets, including the online platform Netgazeti, through his social media posts.
On October 31, Georgian Dream representative from Tbilisi City Council, Otar Chrdileli, verbally abused journalists from TV companies “Formula” and “Pirveli”.
Otar Chrdileli told the journalists that they did not leave a “normal impression” mentally. The journalists asked Chrdileli questions about those detained during pro-European protests. The Georgian Dream representative also called critical TV channels “propagandists”.
On October 10, 2025, the Georgian Dream referred to the founder of “Batumelebi”/“Netgazeti”, the prisoner Mzia Amaglobeli, as a perpetrator and “executor of the tasks of the deep state”. This statement by the Georgian Dream followed the presentation of the IPI-IMS World Press Freedom Hero Award to Mzia Amaglobeli.
“The decision to present the Hero Award to a criminal who deliberately attacked the police and with this action slapped not one specific law enforcement officer, but the entire system and the state, is another act of impudence, a mockery of Georgian society, a mockery of free speech and free media”, – said the press service of the Georgian Dream, Giorgi Grdzelishvili, at a briefing.
It is worth noting that this briefing was largely devoted to the topic of presenting the award to Mzia Amaglobeli. “The presentation of the Hero Award to Mzia Amaglobeli clearly shows the difficult situation of the international media, the international press…”, – said the spokesperson of the “Georgian Dream” at a special briefing.
On October 9, 2025, it became known that Mzia Amaglobeli, who was sentenced to 2 years in prison by the “Georgian Dream” court for slapping a police officer, is among the winners of the 2025 World Press Freedom Hero Award. The award is established by the International Press Institute IPI-IMS. A total of 7 journalists were named as the winners of the 2025 award. “This year’s award winners are examples of the threats facing journalists around the world, as authoritarianism takes hold, impunity prevails, and new challenges arise for freedom of expression,” – said the Executive Director of the IPI.
On October 5, 2025, the propaganda television station POSTV referred to “TV Pirveli” journalist Tea Adeishvili as a “national propagandist.” “I am a descendant of Kakutsa Cholokashvili’s comrade-in-arms” – this phrase, mentioned by Tea Adeishvili during the election broadcast, has been placed on the POTSV card without context, and Tea Adeishvili’s regalia reads – “National propagandist Tea Adeishvili”.
Media outlets and journalists with critical editorial policies have recently become targets of discrediting POSTV more than once. The propaganda, affiliated with the “Georgian Dream” government, POSTV continues the vicious trend of discrediting independent media by high-ranking public figures of the “Georgian Dream”.
On October 5, 2025, the propaganda television station POSTV, affiliated with the Georgian Dream, referred to the independent online media outlets Netgazeti, Publika, and Tabula, as well as TV Pirveli and Formula, as “propaganda media of the National Movement.” POSTV accused the aforementioned media outlets of concealing information about a police officer injured during a protest the previous day, October 4.
The visual material (card) distributed by POSTV bears the logos of these media outlets and the following text: “The propaganda media of the National Movement have not asked a single question about the critically ill police officer Giorgi Barbakadze so far.”
The editor of “Publika”, Zura Vardiashvili, responded to this fact on social media. He noted that he would not have responded to the information spread by the propaganda media if it were not for the coordinated attacks of recent days. He said that in fact the publication has prepared a number of materials on the topic of the injured policeman and added links to all the materials in the comments to his own statement.
