OC Insider

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How Georgian Dream is legitimising its power through social media ads

•4 min read

Hello there! My name is Tamara, and I’m usually the one managing OC Media’s social media accounts. In my free time, I also track social and political ads on Meta platforms. And after spending enough time checking what ads are running in Georgia, it has become worryingly obvious how cheap, easy, and effective propaganda is these days. PosTV, the biggest political and social ad spender in the Georgian media, is a pro-government channel with a strong anti-woke stance. In the past 90 days alone, Po

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Decolonising the North Caucasus, one language at a time

by Dominik K Cagara

•2 min read

Хьоме дешархо (Dear Reader), Much has already been said about the likely closure of RFE/RL and the consequences it will have for the region. However, there is one crucial aspect that I believe deserves more attention: RFE/RL’s decolonial impact. I have been passionate about the languages of the Caucasus for years, and happen to have been studying Chechen since 2009. Chechen is a complex language and it isn’t similar to any other language that I know. Each noun belongs to one of six genders, w

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What freedom of speech means in the North Caucasus

by Elizaveta Chukharova

•2 min read

Dear reader, You have the opportunity to read this newsletter, as well as the freedom to read any news in Telegram or use it to communicate with friends. But in the North Caucasus, the use of the social media messenger Telegram is already a luxury. Since November, residents of Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Daghestan have reported problems accessing the messaging app. The authorities, without blinking an eye, replied that any issues were the work of ‘foreign agents’, accusing such ‘agents’ of makin

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Independent media is just one step away from disappearing

by Aytan Farhadova

•1 min read

A few days ago, the chair of a regional media outlet called me with the following message: ‘Aytan, our employees in Azerbaijan refuse to work with us for fear of being arrested. For their own safety, they say they’d prefer to change their profession altogether, and we need new employees.’ In my country, almost every day begins with bad news, so this update did not shock me. But then, I heard that the media outlet itself was at risk, due to the situation in Georgia and the new FARA law in parl

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Hey, Trump! Game on.

by Dominik K Cagara

•2 min read

Dear reader, Trump, Orbán, and Putin’s war on the media has entered a new era. When they failed to destroy us with their big lies, accusations in the mirror, or false balances, they struck where we are most vulnerable — our near-total dependency on philanthropy. My favourite part of founding OC Media was feeling connected to all the brave, uncompromising journalists in the Caucasus. I loved brainstorming stories with our Daghestani journalists, refining conflict-sensitive terminology, or trave

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Azerbaijan’s first independent media outlet closes after 35 years

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

On 13 February 2025, Turan closed its offices. It was the first independent media outlet to emerge in Azerbaijan, working consistently for 35 years. ‘Founded in 1990, in the final days of the Soviet Union, we have endured the challenges of transition, war, and reform while remaining committed to journalism that serves the public interest’, Turan’s director Mehman Aliyev wrote in a statement addressing the outlet’s closing. In his letter to the readers, Aliyev explained the reason Turan was clo

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The shameful capitulation of the US

by Nate Ostiller

•4 min read

In a matter of weeks, the US, under President Donald Trump, has shattered its reputation as a reliable ally and partner, perhaps irreparably. While the most harmful and immediate impacts of the retreat from the global stage by the US will likely be felt in the Global South, where USAID cuts will decimate public health programmes and lead to possibly millions of preventable deaths, I would argue that Eastern Europe and the Caucasus will feel America’s retreat most strongly from a geopolitical st