Protests in Georgia 14th may 2024

[Bingoman]

The people of Georgia are protesting over a law that sounds like something from Russia but the President of Georgia has said she wont sign it into law herself?

Currently looking at pictures on Sky News atm its not looking good and may get worse once this foreign agents bill is sign into law?

And according some experts on the matter on sky news the county may have sanctions put on them too

Georgia approves controversial law that sparked mass protests

The bill targets civil society organisations and independent media that receive foreign funding.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[skyscraper101]

Under the bill - which passed its third and final reading with 84 votes against 30 on Tuesday - NGOs and independent media that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign donors would have to register as organisations "bearing the interests of a foreign power".

They would also be monitored by the Justice Ministry and could be forced to share sensitive information - or face hefty fines of up to 25,000 GEL ($9,400; £7,500).

Protesters are concerned that the legislation would be used by the government to suppress its opponents. Parallels have also been drawn with an authoritarian bill which came into force in Russia in 2012, and which the Kremlin has since used to clamp down on dissidents.

Just trying to understand it fully. On a surface read it doesn't sound all that different from something the UK would impose. I'm thinking say all the hullabaloo from the attempted takeover of the Telegraph from by RedBird IMI, or how OFCOM keeps tabs on all broadcast media and took down PressTV and RT. The language itself seems problematic though "bearing the interests of a foreign power" - suggesting that anything which is less than 80% Georgian owned is by default working in the interests of a foreign power. - but what does 'foreign power' mean? Foreign government or foreign company? It doesn't make it clear what they mean by 'power'.

Obvs the likes of the BBC or CNN aren't government owned. Al Jazeera is (partly), France 24 are, etc.

Again reading on a surface level, why wouldn't a government want a register of foreign owned media or NGOs? I'd have assumed they already did do this tbh. It's more what they do with that data and if Georgia follows the lead of the Kremlin to use it to silence non-state controlled orgs.

 

[Spandex]

Just trying to understand it fully. On a surface read it doesn't sound all that different from something the UK would impose. I'm thinking say all the hullabaloo from the attempted takeover of the Telegraph from by RedBird IMI, or how OFCOM keeps tabs on all broadcast media and took down PressTV and RT. The language itself seems problematic though "bearing the interests of a foreign power" - suggesting that anything which is less than 80% Georgian owned is by default working in the interests of a foreign power. - but what does 'foreign power' mean? Foreign government or foreign company? It doesn't make it clear what they mean by 'power'.

Obvs the likes of the BBC or CNN aren't government owned. Al Jazeera is (partly), France 24 are, etc.

Again reading on a surface level, why wouldn't a government want a register of foreign owned media or NGOs? I'd have assumed they already did do this tbh. It's more what they do with that data and if Georgia follows the lead of the Kremlin to use it to silence non-state controlled orgs.

Opponents of the Foreign Agents Bill see it as based on the Russian Foreign Agents Law, which they say has been used to clamp down on dissent:

Russia's 'Foreign Agent' Law Targets Journalists, Activists, Even Ordinary Citizens

 

[Petcha]

Watching on C4 now. The local journo there estimates that 80% of Georgians want to join the EU. They're clearly a little more on to it than the idiots in this fucking country who didn't just shoot themselves in the foot but blew our leg off. I've just got back from a bit of a whistle stop around Europe and yes, the UK is still literally a laughing stock for what we collectively decided to do. Still disbelief as to why we would do that when everyone else is clamouring to join it.

 

[Raheem]

Just trying to understand it fully. On a surface read it doesn't sound all that different from something the UK would impose. I'm thinking say all the hullabaloo from the attempted takeover of the Telegraph from by RedBird IMI, or how OFCOM keeps tabs on all broadcast media and took down PressTV and RT.

It's not really similar. A lot of countries have rules about media ownership and conduct. Georgia probably has ever since its independence, although I'm only guessing.

This law is about creating a list of organisations that the Ministry of Justice has standing authorisation to monitor and investigate without cause. That will include media organisations, but also charities, trade unions and campaigning organisations. Because Georgia is not massively wealthy, most of these receive some form of foreign subvention, and it's thought that about 90% of them pass the 20% threshold stipulated by the law.

 

[Dogsauce]

Georgia now seems to be on a Belorussian trajectory, protests continue, but the ruling party (Georgian Dream) having forced through their ‘Russian’ law on political/NGO funding are now calling out opposition politicians and protest leaders, who are then attacked in their homes by masked thugs. They’ve also reopened diplomatic relations with Russia despite being invaded by them in recent decades. Elections in the Autumn look like they might be a flashpoint.