TI Georgia Calls for Veto on Controversial Amendments to Broadcasting Law
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, October 23, 2023
The non-governmental organization "Transparency International Georgia" is urging Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili to veto the controversial amendments passed by the Georgian Dream in the "Law on Broadcasting".
According to TI, these amendments further worsen the already deteriorating standards of freedom of speech and expression. They also pose an additional risk of influence on broadcasters and include the threat of media censorship and punishment for critical voices.
"Legal regulation of hate speech is risky given the government's attitude towards critical opinion, the absence of strong independent regulatory bodies, and low trust in the judicial system," the statement reads.
Transparency International (TI) believes that the review process of the bill was not inclusive.
"After the bill's initiation, during the first reading at the plenary session, a significant change was made to the draft law. While the original version of the project focused solely on the regulation of hate speech, after the first reading, the draft law was amended to also include the regulation of obscenity, shifting it from self-regulation to external regulation. This isn't the first instance where the management team, citing compliance with European directives, has hastily and non-inclusively considered and accepted changes," as stated in the assessment.
TI stated that the expedited review of the draft law, occurring concurrently with the impeachment process of the President in Parliament, raises a reasonable suspicion that this action was intended to circumvent a thorough and extensive discussion.
"The stance of media representatives and civil society on these issues is well-known to the Parliament and the majority of Georgia.
The Parliament has initiated the regulation of hate speech on multiple occasions, but it has never reached an agreement with the media and the public organizations dedicated to media freedom.
It is noteworthy that the Media Advocacy Coalition, in collaboration with broadcasters, developed an alternative proposal for an effective co-regulation mechanism. However, this proposal was not embraced by the ruling party.
"Each time, the debate regarding the regulation of hate speech sparked widespread discussion," TI stated.
According to TI's assessment, this law cannot achieve the goal for which the legal regulation of hate speech and obscenity is allowed in developed, democratic countries, and it may become a punitive lever that will be used against critical media.
"Transparency International-Georgia believes that changes of similar significance should not be adopted without consultation and broad involvement of the interested parties, as mandated by the European Directive on audiovisual media services," the statement reads.
