Georgia’s Future Academy responds to the recent statement issued by the Georgian National Communications Commission, in which the Commission spreads false information by claiming that no complaints had been submitted to it regarding the issues that led the United Kingdom to sanction the broadcasters TV Imedi and POST TV.

We would like to remind the public that between October and December 2025, Georgia’s Future Academy alone filed four complaints with the Communications Commission against TV Imedi. The challenged reports concerned disinformation disseminated in the style of Russian propaganda, whose main objective was to fuel anti-European and pro-Russian sentiment in Georgian society by discrediting Georgia’s European partners and Georgian civil society organisations.

It should be noted that the Communications Commission rejected all of our complaints and, in each case, “cleared” TV Imedi using arguments that were legally unfounded and absurd.¹

In particular, the Commission argued that the false claims and biased negative assessments broadcast by TV Imedi — a broadcaster sanctioned for spreading Russian disinformation — were based on so-called journalistic investigations. According to the Commission, the statements made in these reports could therefore be classified neither as facts nor as opinions, but rather as “allegations,” which, in the Commission’s interpretation, are not subject to verification in terms of accuracy. Such reasoning directly contradicts both international standards and Georgian legislation, which recognise only two categories when assessing expression: facts and value judgments. “Allegations” do not exist as an independent legal category either in Georgian law or in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights.

By inventing this artificial category, the Communications Commission effectively relieved TV Imedi — a broadcaster sanctioned for spreading Russian disinformation — of the obligations imposed on broadcasters, including the duty to ensure accuracy, refrain from expressing personal hostility, and avoid disseminating disinformation. At the same time, the Commission ignored its own previous practice, under which critical television channels were found in violation for using expressions such as “regime,” “Russification,” and “clan court.”

In reality, through its decisions the Communications Commission not only failed to ensure broadcaster accountability but also facilitated the continued spread by TV Imedi of Russian-style disinformation and propaganda narratives that have now been internationally recognised as part of Russia’s influence operations.

The Commission’s latest statement is even more alarming. On the one hand, under the banner of protecting media freedom, the Commission attempts to shield sanctioned propagandist broadcasters controlled by Georgian Dream from accountability. On the other hand, it announces the tightening of content regulation that appears aimed at censoring free and critical media. In doing so, the Communications Commission itself assumes direct responsibility for creating an environment that enables the spread of Russian propaganda in Georgia.

Georgia’s Future Academy will continue its efforts to counter Russian influence in Georgia and will use all peaceful and lawful mechanisms to defend the European future of the Georgian people

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¹See decisions of the Georgian National Communication Commission: 

N გ-26-16 / 58,  05 February 2026 https://www.comcom.ge/ge/legal-acts/solutions/2026--26-16-58.page; 

N გ-25-16 / 668, 30 December  2025 https://www.comcom.ge/ge/legal-acts/solutions/2025--25-16-668.page ;

N გ-25-16 / 613, 11 December 2025 https://www.comcom.ge/ge/legal-acts/solutions/2025--25-16-613.page ; 

N გ-25-16 / 611, 11 December 2025 https://www.comcom.ge/ge/legal-acts/solutions/2025--25-16-611.page