Despite calls from civil society organizations, the Georgian parliament passed the amendments to the broadcasting law by 81 votes in a special session on December 22nd.
According to Georgian Dream MPs, the changes, launched on September 7, 2022, aim to bring Georgia’s legislation on audiovisual media services into line with the relevant European Union directive. However, the options for monitoring media content by the Communications Commission will be expanded.
At the same time, the procedure for settling defamation disputes will be amended and a “right of reply” clause will be added, allowing citizens who believe that a particular media outlet has disseminated false and defamatory information about them to lodge a complaint directly with the Communications Commission. Previously, in similar cases, citizens had petitioned the Charter of Journalistic Ethics or the court. Whether or not the Commission’s decisions are challenged in court, they come into effect immediately.
The amendments to the Broadcasting Act drew criticism from civil society organizations shortly after they were initiated. The civil society organizations said the draft law risks restricting freedom of expression and worsening the media environment in the country.
They emphasized that “given the practice of sanctioning critical media by the Communications Commission, the risk of harm expected from the immediate enforcement of politically biased decisions against critical media increases significantly.”
A day before the amendments were enacted, on December 21, the Media Advocacy Coalition, a CSO dealing with media issues, again stated that the process of introducing amendments to Georgia’s broadcasting law “was hastily conducted, without the opinions of those working in this field and failing to assess the risks, which risks deteriorating an already difficult media environment”.
CSOs also cited the Georgian Dream’s argument about implementing the European directive as a reason for the changes, stressing that the European Union is not telling countries how to change their own legislation. “The most important thing countries need to do to be compliant with the directive is to meet the target set out in it. [This approach] allows countries to consider the circumstances when implementing the policy and choose a path that does not harm the field.”
In addition, “the European Union has postponed the procedure to May 31, 2023, [for Georgia] to honor that commitment and work on the amendments to the Broadcasting Act,” the CSOs said. Taking into account the dangers of Georgia’s media environment, most TV channels and civil society organizations worked on an alternative version of the bill put to Parliament by MP Tamar Kordzaia, “but they did not consider the proposal,” the CSOs said.
According to the Media Advocacy Coalition, “It is vital for the public to have detailed information about the processes of [Georgia’s] integration into the European Union and to understand that even the minimum standard, which involves the participation of interested people in the processes, is not met.”
Civil society organization Georgian Democratic Initiative issued a separate statement today calling on Parliament not to pass “anti-media freedom amendments” to the Broadcasting Act.
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