Tbilisi City Hall confirms its employees involved in clash with strikers
During the general strike on Wednesday, a group of men, one with a baseball bat, attacked demonstrators.
Georgia’s protests have been marked by their decentralised nature, with social media platforms leading the charge and acting as the lifelines of the pro-EU and anti-government movement.
In the streets of Tbilisi, protesters gather in silence, their connection to the anti-government movement sustained by real-time updates from their phones. The only messages widely visible are those projected onto the Georgian Parliament building with a laser, reflecting the digital-first nature of the resistance. One such message — ‘Noise, Noise, Noise’, written in a glowing green script — rouses the once-silent crowd on Rustaveli Avenue into a growing wave of noise as they respond to the call.
As Georgia’s pro-EU protests intensify, a striking feature sets them apart from past movements: they have no central organisers, no defined leaders, and no orators rallying the crowds. Instead, the protests are a spontaneous, organic response to political tensions, driven largely by social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have become the lifelines of this movement, where individuals share posts, create events, and spread calls to action across the country.
One of the most prominent platforms for sharing information about protests has become the Facebook group Daitove (‘keep’). The group’s co-founder, Ilia Glonti, views the protests as a return to the fundamentals of democracy, much like in ancient Greece, where citizens took part in decision-making through assemblies.
‘The reason there’s no microphone or stage is because these people don’t want that, no one wants to speak down to others, because we’re all equals, and that’s how we see it. This is the spirit of Demos, maybe a lot of time has passed since ancient civilisation, but I have the feeling that democracies were built like this. Today, we’re doing this, just like in Greece, only with a bit of a different form’, Glonti tells OC Media.
Daitove was originally created on 30 April 2024, just weeks after the government reintroduced the controversial foreign agent law, also known as the ‘Russian law’. The group was established with a clear purpose: to support protesters travelling from the regions to Tbilisi with accommodation.
‘The driving force for change was always rooted in the disappointments we experienced. The first stage was focused on charity and helping people. Before that, we hadn’t even remotely moved in a political direction. We were simply a group of people helping others with our own resources. We distributed water, bought supplies, went to Lilo market, and during crackdowns or tear gas incidents, we assisted people. It was purely charitable work. That’s what Daitove was up until the 28th’, Glonti says.
After 28 May, when the ruling Georgian Dream majority in parliament overrode the president’s veto on the foreign agent law, the protests died down, with many holding out in anticipation of the autumn parliamentary elections. Daitove’s focus also shifted to a new role: becoming a source of information.
Despite the shift, the group remained highly active, maintaining its community of approximately 250,000 members. The platform became a hub for sharing updates about the parliamentary elections scheduled for 26 October, with members sharing information and exchanging resources, like guidelines on how to participate as election observers.
When the results of the elections were announced, allegations of election rigging ignited fresh waves of discontent. Political parties and opposition leaders began organising protests, calling for accountability, but the energy and unity that had defined the earlier demonstrations were not yet fully rekindled, leaving a sense that the movement had not reached its tipping point.
‘I expected a large turnout after the elections when we were organising protests, even when fewer people showed up back then. I still had a sense that a moment would come when the whole country would rise up’, Zurab Girchi Zaparidze, a leader of the opposition Coalition for Change, tells OC Media.
That turning point came on 28 November, when the government announced its decision to suspend Georgia’s bid for EU accession ‘until 2028’, sparking outrage. The public’s frustration found its outlet in the streets. In response, Daitove stepped up its civic activism, taking on a leading role in organising protests and marches.
‘If previously we had entered the political arena as ordinary civil actors, this was a new stage where we declared that we were now taking to the streets. After the elections, the process once again failed to become a unifying force for the people, due to many factors. Unfortunately, there is a lack of trust in political parties. We are a nation driven more by values, with a more value-oriented civil society, rather than being politically inclined toward someone or something specific. This became evident here’, Glonti says.
Shifting the spotlight away from political parties, social media groups took the lead in organising protests, disseminating information, and sharing ideas and strategies. Various social groups began to self-organise, taking to the streets in protest. Unity manifested in every corner: marches were organised based on shared regional origins, educational backgrounds, professions, and more. Through Daitove, anyone could propose a protest idea and share it with the group’s 250,000 members, ensuring that the streets were filled with protesters the very next day.
‘The advantage of protests organised by different social groups is that nobody knows what will happen the next day. We genuinely don’t know where a march might occur, what type of performance might happen, or what banners and messages will appear. It’s a surprise for everyone’, Japaridze explains.
Although the protests lack a leader, their success has become increasingly evident over time. The movement has accumulated significant international attention, amplifying its impact.
With the support of group members, a large amount of footage of the protests has been captured, including moments the media was unable to cover. Protesters took it upon themselves to document everything, especially misconduct by law enforcement.
‘People should know what’s happening during these protests — how law enforcement is using excessive force and treating demonstrators unjustly. Thanks to social media, people from all over the world are keeping an eye on the protests happening in Georgia’, Tiko Gobronidze, who attends the protests daily, tells OC Media.
Daitove was particularly valuable during the crackdowns, providing real-time updates from members on the ground.
‘Every three minutes I came across updates about the protests on social media — how a part of the crowd moved to the riverside during the crackdown, how people were joining others near the opera house, and how masked special [police units] were running through Besiki Street trying to arrest people. Information about which alleys they were hiding in was crucial for us to know’, Gibronidze recalls, emphasising that they were essential in ensuring her safety.
The updates were also important for emigrants, who, unable to be physically present, remained glued to their screens for information.
‘It’s the only thing that brings us some comfort — being so far away and unable to do anything, while watching these young people fight.’, Natia Arabuli, an active member of Daitove living abroad, tells OC Media.
For Tamta Tsatsiashvili, another Georgian emigrant, Daitove was how she was able to learn about the variety of protests, as well as inform her friends and others around the world of what was happening in Georgia.
‘I believe that even those who aren’t physically present feel like they’re part of it [the protests]. It has brought people together — even mothers who take care of each other’s children in order for the other to join the protests. Isn’t that amazing?’, Tsatsiashvili tells OC Media.
Japaridze credits the success of the demonstrations to a new form of protest tradition that has emerged — one that was unfamiliar to the government and has left them struggling to come up with an effective response.
‘The advantage is that, to this day, the ruling regime has been unable to figure out exactly who they could target, remove, detain, or imprison to suppress the spirit of protest. They are unable to do so precisely because there isn’t a single individual leading this process. Each social group has its own distinct group of leaders who organise things independently’, Japaridze says.
Even so, the government has tried to find people to blame in an effort to stop the protests, targeting politicians, activists, and even regular participants. Among those singled out was Glonti.
On 4 December, police searched his house. The Ministry of Internal Affairs explained to Glonti’s lawyer that the search was conducted as part of an investigation initiated under two articles of the Criminal Code: concerning the organisation, leadership, or participation in group violence and concerning public incitement to violent actions.
‘We were prepared for this — well, as prepared as one can ever be for something like this. When they searched my house, I was incredibly anxious, no point in denying it. They didn’t tell me if they were taking me to prison or how deeply I was implicated in the charges — I still don’t know to this day. That’s probably part of their strategy, to keep people in constant fear. I was expecting them to take me away; I was convinced of it and, of course, worried’, Glonti remembers.
‘For two hours, I sat there while they filled out the interrogation paperwork, convinced that they would take me away and sentence me to nine years — for absolutely nothing. For nothing, except for the fact that I did something good: I helped create a platform that assisted people in coordinating with each other’, Glonti adds.
As part of the search, police also confiscated Glonti’s phone and laptop.
The rise of movements like ‘Daitove’ showcase how social media has fundamentally reshaped activism and political engagement. These platforms allow individuals to bypass traditional structures and create decentralised, horizontal movements.
‘If in the past protests, demonstrations, and revolutions had leaders or a group of leaders around whom people rallied as the driving force, social media now enables protests to be horizontal. This means people can unite, make decisions, and organise without any centralised leadership’, IT expert Sandro Asatiani tells OC Media.
Such protests are not a new phenomenon. Between 2010 and 2012, the Arab Spring movement used the power of social media to organise and communicate protests across the Arab world. The wave of anti-government uprisings, protests, and revolutions faced various government responses, from heavy police and military crackdowns to internet blackouts. Despite these efforts, the influence of social media could not be silenced.
‘What was common back then was the high degree of self-organisation, which sparked discussions about how, for the first time, people were planning actions and protests without rallying around leaders or leader groups. This similarity exists here as well’, Asatiani says.
Protests in the digital age have evolved significantly with social media transforming the speed and scale of mobilisation. As Arabuli recalls, the difference between demonstrations in the 1990s and those today is the high accessibility through social media.
‘The difference is that 30 years ago, people had nothing else. Our resources were limited to landline phones and black-and-white TVs. But today, people have so many tools to share information with one another’, Arabuli says.
In addition to creating more outlets for action, new methods to challenge the power of social media have emerged, with the use of bots becoming one of the most prominent.
According to Asatiani, these bots played a big role in the election process in Ukraine, with Ukrainians sharing examples of how ‘black PR’ — disinformation and negative campaigning — originates from social media.
‘At the time, this wasn’t yet a visible phenomenon in Georgia, and bots weren’t accompanying political processes or serving as someone’s primary income source. Now, the activity has intensified to such a degree that for some, this might be a source of income — it has even become a profession’, Asatiani says.
This tactic is also employed to intimidate and silence influencers who actively engage with large audiences.
Tako Lochoshvili, an influencer and outspoken critic of the government, tells OC Media that she has faced a wave of threatening comments, private messages, and insults, emphasising a strategy in which accounts are being reported in order to force them to close down.
‘It's a particularly difficult situation during this period because, when you speak to large audiences, you appear more threatening to them. As a result, they constantly try to intimidate you. I always receive private messages where they sometimes threaten to break my legs, sometimes to kill me, or to beat me. Messages like these come very frequently’, Lochoshvili says.
As someone posting about ongoing protests, Lochoshvili views her platform not just as a space for personal gain but as a responsibility.
‘My platform is not just a separate action, neither is it solely about the advertisements I do. My platform is entirely me, and I am the person who has been protesting against the system’s massive injustice, corruption, unfair judiciary, judges, and so on, since I was 15 years old. I never imagined that my platform, especially now when I have many more followers than I did when I was 15, would not be used to share information with the masses in the way that I can’, she tells OC Media.
‘The highest level of engagement on my Instagram is during protest periods, when there’s a battle against the regime, and when I actively post stories from the protests, my followers are the most engaged, which makes me very happy’, she adds.
Lochoshvili also used her platform to call out an event she found particularly disturbing. After the first session of the new parliament took place on 25 November, which she deemed illegitimate, Lasha Talakhadze, a prominent athlete and newly appointed MP, made controversial comments about increasing funds to reward athletes. Lochoshvili expressed her disapproval, not only because she viewed the proposal as a misuse of state funds, but also due to Talakhadze’s insults directed at the people after his questionable entry into parliament.
‘In general, I don’t like the abuse of the state budget, and I’ve been talking about this for a long time. Especially when athletes like Lasha Talakhadze talk about it — who took the money, sat illegitimately in parliament, and then insulted the people. It was clear to me that I didn’t like it, so I posted a story and tagged him’, Lochoshvili explains.
Her act of speaking out didn’t go unnoticed by Talakhadze, who responded with sexually explicit abuse in private messages, typical of the harassment faced by many outspoken individuals online. Yet, Lochoshvili refused to remain silent, sharing the messages publicly to expose the reality behind the political facade.
‘I never thought he would message me because, as a decent person, if you’re fooling yourself by claiming to be a politician, you still wouldn’t message anyone. It was just typical sexual harassment texts. I shared everything so everyone would know what this so-called politician really is like’, Lochoshvili says.
Even though the tactics are constantly evolving, the protests still continue.
‘I don’t believe anything, including politicians’ speeches, can diminish the spirit of this protest. People aren’t out here because of politicians; they’re here because they know precisely that we either win this fight and move toward the EU, or this country, with great potential to join the EU in a few years, will take the opposite direction. There’s no middle ground — we’re either heading here or there. That’s why people are out here, and nothing can dampen that spirit. Accusations, attempts to discredit, claims that the opposition is organising things — none of it will work. There’s no chance’, Japaridze says.
As the protests enter the New Year, social media has continued to serve as the backbone of the demonstrations. It has amplified activists’ voices, exposed government crackdowns, and brought protesters together, making the movement more inclusive, spontaneous, and resilient. These platforms have not only mobilised people but also reshaped how resistance is organised, documented, and sustained, turning every user into a potential activist, journalist, and organiser. In doing so, social media has ensured that the protests remain powerful and connected while reaching every corner of the world, unfiltered.