Opposition TV channel sanctioned for refusing to air Georgian Dream election ad

The Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) satisfied the ruling Georgian Dream party’s complaint against the opposition channel Mtavari Arkhi, and has filed a violation protocol against the TV company for not airing its political advertisement.

GNCC stated on Wednesday that according to Mtavari Arkhi, the advertisement’s placement might be against the prohibition of spreading hate speech as stated in the Broadcasting Law.

During the pre-election period, all community broadcasters are obliged to allot free advertising time to qualified electoral subjects in the elections. The TV channels are not responsible for the contents of any advertisements.

According to local media, the ruling party’s election clip, which Mtavari Arkhi refused to air, featured background images of civil activists, representatives of non-governmental organisations, and former and current politicians in black-and-white, with the words ‘No to moral degeneration’ and ‘No to the dark past’ written in red in the foreground.

Included in the footage are images of former Prime Minister and Georgian Dream member Giorgi Gakharia, who is now the current leader of the opposition party For Georgia. 

According to a statement by the GNCC, ‘the disputed political advertisement does not appear to incite hatred or violence, or call for violence’. 

‘The video clip made by the electoral entity serves to present the pre-election vision of the political union’, the statement read. ‘Therefore, the presented video clip does not violate the requirements of the current legislation and the broadcaster was obliged to air it’.

RFE/RL reported that GNCC sent a protocol of administrative offences to the court, and it is now up to the court to decide ‘what type of sanction it will use and whether it will release the TV channel from administrative responsibility’.

On 25 July, the GNCC sanctioned Mtavari Arkhi for airing a video that included a list of MPs who supported the controversial foreign agent law.

‘The commission considered that the video clips served to hinder the election of political unions and their representatives potentially participating in the parliamentary elections scheduled for 26 October 2024, therefore, the video clips were classified as political advertising’, the GNCC’s official statement read.

The one-minute long video collage which Mtavari Arkhi aired included the caption ‘Know the MPs signed the Russian law’, which was followed by images of parliamentary majority MPs with their names listed. 

‘According to the fact that Mtavari Arkhi has not been sanctioned for a similar violation in the last one year, the commission warned the broadcaster in writing and instructed it to immediately remove the videos from the broadcasting network’, the commission’s statement read.

Parliamentary elections in Georgia are scheduled for 26 October.

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