Why are Georgian fact-checkers receiving threatening calls? Interview with Sandro Gigauri #121

Podcast Demagoga

Thousands of people in Georgia have been protesting for several weeks against the adoption of a bill called the "Foreign Agent Law". According to the document, if at least 20 percent of an organization's funding comes from abroad, it must register as an "agent of foreign influence".

Similar laws also exist in other countries, including Russia. How do they differ from the Georgian one? Why did President Salome Zurabishvili, who vetoed it, called it the "Russian law"? How might it target the fact-checkers? Why have they been receiving anonymous, threatening phone calls for several weeks?

We spoke about it with Sandro Gigauri from the Media Development Foundation and the fact-checking website Myth Detector.

Sandro Gigauri – has been working as a Disinformation/Propaganda Researcher at the Media Development Foundation (MDF) since 2021; he serves as the English Language Editor on the MDF "Myth Detector" fact-checking platform. Furthermore, Sandro is an Expert in Information Environment Monitoring at the European Service Network and an Invited Lecturer at the Ilia State University in Tbilisi.

In addition to his daily work on manifestations of disinformation and misinformation, Sandro is the author of many publications including: "Russian Information Warfare: Two Months After the Invasion in Ukraine", "Media Literacy Sector Mapping in Georgia" and "Anti-Gender and Anti-LGBTQI Mobilization in Georgia”.

Useful links:

• „VIDEO MANIPULATION CLAIMING DEMONSTRATORS ARE USING A NAZI GESTURE”

• „A FABRICATED PROTEST POSTER IS BEING CIRCULATED ON SOCIAL NETWORKS”

• „FABRICATED POSTER AMID THE PROTESTS AGAINST THE »RUSSIAN LAW«”

• „Georgia: Abandon ‘Foreign Agent’ Registration Law”

• „Georgia president vetoes ‘foreign agent’ law”