Georgian Dream U-turn on mandatory ‘standards’ for online media

According to the latest statement from the ruling Georgian Dream party, the broadcasting ‘standards’ that the ruling party sought to impose on TV channels will not apply to online media.

The ruling party’s parliamentary leader Mamuka Mdinaradze stated on Monday evening that the bill, which has only passed its first reading so far, will not cover online media as a whole but will apply to websites and social media pages managed by television broadcasters.

Mdinaradze’s statement contradicted that of his fellow party member, Archil Gorduladze, the chair of the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee.

Gorduladze had previously announced a change to the bill, stating that while the initial version was only meant to apply to TV broadcasters, the revised version would extend to both broadcasters’ online resources and online media outlets.

Georgian Dream to legislate ‘standards’ for online media

Until now, the ruling party’s bill had only targeted TV broadcasters.

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia

‘This refers to organisations that call themselves media and function as media but do not operate as broadcasters. Their means and method of disseminating information are not television; rather, they use websites as well as various applications for information distribution and have a structured format’, Gorduladze reportedly said.

He also presented the definition of an ‘internet media service provider’, which the ruling party sought to include in the same bill and which clearly went beyond just broadcasters.

‘As for the internet media service provider, it will be considered a broadcaster or another party which, either individually or in cooperation with others, owns or uses an internet domain and internet hosting for the dissemination of mass information in the state language’, he said.

The legislative amendments approved by Georgian Dream in the first reading consisted of two main parts: the regulation of coverage standards and prohibiting broadcasters from receiving direct or indirect funding from ‘a foreign power’.

The changes to the broadcasting law are just one of many legislative changes being quickly pushed through by Georgian Dream that threaten to undermine democracy in the country.

The party has repeatedly claimed that the new bills are necessary to fight the ‘influence of external forces’.

In barrage of legislation, Georgian Dream approves new foreign agent law in its first reading

The ruling party claims that the new law is a word-for-word translation of America’s Foreign Agents Registration Act.

OC MediaYousef Bardouka