Georgian Dream's lawsuit against Television Companies is 'alarming', Media Advocacy Coalition says
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, August 11, 2022
The Media Advocacy Coalition considers Georgian Dream's lawsuit for the Communications Commission to sanction three Television Companies: Formula, Mtavari Arkhi and TV Pirveli for airing the "Home to Europe" commercial 'alarming'.
According to Georgian Dream's complaint, the video of June 23 and 24, 2022 on three channels has pre-election/political content, and it is a violation of the law to post and distribute the same video during the pre-election period.
The statement of the coalition states that the ban on posting of videos critical of the ruling party lacks a legal basis and threatens pluralism in the country.
According to them, such an attitude is incompatible with the principles of modern democratic state management:
"This is not the first time that the issue of placing political advertisements by critical media is discussed in the Communications Commission. In 2020 and 2021, the commission sanctioned Mtavari Arkhi twice with the highest measure, the decisions made in complete disregard of the clear legal basis and the principles of proportionality were evaluated by the coalition as an attempt at censorship.
It is important that in accordance with the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, pre-election advertising is considered to be a pre-election advertisement, the purpose of which is to facilitate the election of the President of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia, the representative body of the municipality - the Sakrebulo, the executive body of the municipality, and the highest official of the municipality - the mayor. In order to determine the violation in accordance with the practice established by the Tbilisi City Court, first of all, the pre-election/political characteristics of the advertisement placed on the air network should be evaluated.
Only then should its formal side be checked. In the ring distributed under the name of the "Home to Europe" campaign, none of the election subjects - none of the candidates for the position of public authorities - can be seen. Therefore, the material cannot meet the cumulative conditions, the combination of which would make it possible to evaluate it as a pre-election advertisement.
The Media Advocacy Coalition urges the Communications Commission not to continue the practice of restricting critical media outlets and to take into account both the importance of the contentious issue and the risks of limiting media freedom when making a decision." statement reads.
