The European Press Freedom Report for 2024 found that Georgia witnessed a sharp deterioration in press freedoms and one of steepest declines in journalists’ safety in Europe, over the course of last year. 

According to the report, Georgia’s decline was characterised by “escalating violence against journalists, restrictive legislation and political interference” marking a “troubling shift away from democratic principles and European integration”.

The annual assessment on press freedom in Europe is compiled by the partner organisations of the Council of Europe Safety of Journalists platform, which works to promote the protection of those working in the media.

According to the report, “Georgia experienced the highest increase in press freedom alerts on the Platform among all member states of the Council of Europe – more than threefold compared to the previous year – highlighting a rapid deterioration of media freedoms”.

The reported stated that “rising authoritarianism” in the Black Sea country throughout 2024 placed press freedoms under “severe strain”.

The platform highlighted “a range of tactics” they identified in Georgia in 2024 which aimed to “discredit and supress dissenting voices, particularly those of independent journalists”.

Violence against journalists at protests

Georgia recorded 18 journalist safety alerts in 2024, placing it alongside Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and Serbia, the highest scoring countries in Europe for press freedom violations.

The reports stated the spike in alerts was “largely due to attacks on journalists during pro-EU protests”.

On November 28, 2024 GD officially suspended accession negotiations with the EU, triggering ongoing nighty nationwide protests.

Police were reported to be targeting working journalists during violent crackdowns on crowds of demonstrators on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue.

The CoE report noted that “police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protests, with more than 90 media workers reporting physical attacks, verbal abuse, or obstruction” and as well as “damaged, destroyed or confiscated” equipment.

“Most affected journalists worked for independent and government-critical outlets,” the Council of Europe platform said.

Earlier, during Georgia’s contested October 2024 parliamentary elections, the report stated, “at least 70 journalists were subjected to verbal and physical assaults, intimidation, and obstruction of their work”.

The Safety of Journalists platform further highlighted how several pro-opposition television channels received fines from the Communications Regulation Commission during the pre-election campaign period, after the broadcasters “refused to air political advertisements, including propagandistic footage of war-torn Ukraine”.

Repressive legislation

The CoE pointed to GD’s highly controversial “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence – dubbed the “foreign agents” or “Russian” law by critics – and how it “restricts freedom of expression and hinders the operation of independent media”.

“Journalists covering rallies against the [foreign agents] law [in spring 2024] faced violence from riot police, smear campaigns, threats, and vandalism of their offices,” the report stated.

On March 4, this bill was updated to a new, tougher version which GD claim to be an “exact Georgian translation” of the US’s current Foreign Agent Registration Act.

Failure by foreign-funded non-governmental and media organisations to comply with obligations of the FARA, namely regularly declaring their finances and entering themselves on the “foreign agents” registry, can now result in fines of up to 100,000 USD and five years’ prison time.

Also on March 4, GD adopted amendments to Georgia’s Law on Broadcasting, which prohibits broadcasters’ receipt of direct or indirect funding from a “foreign power” and significantly tightens media regulations.