The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) is pleased to invite to our third webinar on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia.
With less than two weeks until e-day, this webinar focuses on the media landscape in the run-up to Georgia’s pivotal parliamentary elections.
The media in Georgia has long faced pressure from politicians, but in this election, polarization has hit new highs. Opposition-leaning outlets refuse to air defamatory spots from the ruling party, risking heavy fines, while pro-government editors retaliate in kind. Social Media is amplifying this trend, with anonymous networks targeting political opponents and propagating divisive narratives.
TV, still the top source of political news, is flooded with manipulation, hate speech, and disinformation. Independent media operates in an increasingly hostile climate, with journalists facing both verbal and physical attacks. Georgia’s Press Freedom Ranking recently dropped from 77th to 103rd. Is free speech in danger? What are the key challenges for journalists as the elections approach?
Details:
Speakers:
Qristina Parjiani manages social media monitoring projects, identifying and addressing misleading narratives and collaborating with subject-matter experts, including different social media platform representatives, to develop educational and informative content that promotes truth and accuracy.
Mariam Tsitsikashvili is a project manager at Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS), a multi-profile Think Tank established in Georgia that also runs a fact-checking platform, FactCheck Georgia. At GRASS, she supervises projects related to Georgia’s European integration, foreign state-sponsored disinformation and malign influence. Mariam served as a non-resident fellow at Prague-based European Values Center for Security policy. She holds a degree of Master of Social Sciences, with the major in Eurasian and Caucasus Studies and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Tbilisi State University. She also studied International Relations at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland.
Tamar Kintsurashvili is the founder and executive director of the Media Development Foundation (MDF) and the editor-in-chief of the online portal Myth Detector. Tamar leads media literacy programs for youth and teachers. She is a member of the Deutsche Welle Akademie Media and Information Literacy Experts Network (MILEN) and the UNESCO MIL Alliance nomination committee. Tamar is the author and co author of many research papers and publications on Russian information warfare in Ukraine, Anti-gender, and anti-LGBTQI mobilization in Georgia, Infodemic, Anti-Western propaganda, etc. Tamar is an associate professor at Ilia State University. She teaches propaganda research methods, media literacy, and media self-regulations and ethics. She received an MSc in policy studies from Edinburgh University and MA in journalism from Tbilisi State University.
Moderated by Adam Busuleanu, Senior Programme Officer, European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE)
Subscribe to our
newsletter
Sign up for our monthly newsletter
and receive the latest EPDE news
Sign up for our monthly newsletter and receive the latest EPDE news
Subscribe to our
newsletter
Sign up for our monthly newsletter
and receive the latest EPDE news
Subscribe to our
newsletter
Sign up for our monthly newsletter and receive the latest EPDE news