On November 28, 2024, Irakli Kobakhidze announced the Georgian Dream’s decision “not to place the issue of opening accession negotiations with the EU on the agenda until the end of 2028 and reject any budgetary grants from the EU until that time” because, according to the Georgian Dream, the EU has used Georgia’s integration process and budgetary grants as blackmail to pressure the Georgian government and interfere in Georgia’s internal affairs.
Immediately after Kobakhidze’s statement, people came out en masse in front of the parliament in Tbilisi to protest the decision that effectively halted Georgia’s EU membership process. Authorities responded by cracking down on protesters and journalists, arresting and beating them in the fog of tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannons. Since November 28, up to 500 people were arrested, 80 of them had to be taken to the hospital from detention centers. On December 10, The Public Defender of Georgia stated that out of 327 detainees, 225 reported mistreatments from the police, 157 had visible marks of violence, and most of them reported their personal belongings stolen. The Public Defender's Office assessed the use of violent methods by police officers to punish citizens as an act of torture, while according to the local non-profit Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, systematic and violent repression against the civilian population should be assessed as a crime against humanity. “The level of the authorities’ violence against largely peaceful protesters is shocking, blatantly retaliatory, and violates Georgia’s domestic laws and international norms,” stated Human Rights Watch. Amnesty International also spoke of the widespread torture and other ill-treatment of protestors in detention and the injustices protesters face in the courts, which have “imposed the harshest fines and custodial sentences on more than a hundred arbitrarily detained protestors”. Authorities are also targeting protesters with ongoing arrests, taking individuals from the streets and their homes one by one. Moreover, up to 53 people were imprisoned for “organizing and participating in violence”, while no police and special forces members have been held to account for excessive use of force, despite the copious amount of evidence.
The protests in Tbilisi and other major Georgian cities persist despite state-led crackdown efforts and repressive measures. As public opposition to the Georgian Dream’s decision continues, TikTok, among other social media, has been exploited by bad actors to discredit and undermine the protest movement through various disinformation and other harmful tactics. This analysis presents key patterns identified through our monitoring of 90 channels and their protest-related content across TikTok.

Accounts discrediting the protests and potentially engaged in Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour

Numerous anonymous accounts manipulate the platform by spreading propaganda and disinformation, as well as harmful language and insults against the protesters, including politicians, activists, journalists, influencers, actors, singers, celebrities, and average citizens who openly oppose the Georgian Dream’s decision to halt Georgia’s EU integration process. Malign actors utilize several tactics and narratives to undermine the protests – 1. Painting an alternate reality where the protesters are committing violence, and the police are the victims; 2. Venerating the police and its violence against protesters; 3. Portraying protests as a foreign-sponsored “Maidan” scenario; 4. Ridiculing and insulting protesters for their appearance and opinions; 5. Discrediting the protests with anti-LGBTQI+ content; 6. Making it seem like not enough people attend the protests.

Several of the accounts observed on TikTok also operate or have operated on Meta’s platforms in the past but have been removed for being engaged in Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour. For example, the following accounts have operated on Meta’s platforms with identical names and profile pictures, which have also been observed and fact-checked by FactCheck Georgia before they were removed: Agentura, Terenti Gldaneli, Mikheil Ukrainologi, Mister Aravin, Realoba, Brdzeni Kritikosi, Aragarevinebt. Notably, most of the anonymous pages become especially active when a major crisis event breaks out in the country. By April 2024, when the Georgian Dream reintroduced the foreign agents law, these accounts were actively disseminating pro-government narratives and working to discredit the protests. FactCheck Georgia has previously reported on certain TikTok channels that have harmful content for manipulating public opinion.

One specific video is a good illustration of how these pages operate. Many of them, mostly on the same day, shared a video from 1991 featuring politician Tengiz Sigua, who was involved in a coup against Georgia's first President, Zviad Gamsakhurdia. In the video, Sigua suggests that President Gamsakhurdia should “listen to the Americans.” This content implies that “malign forces” in Georgia have consistently acted in a similar manner. Just as people “preached” to Gamsakhurdia in the 1990s, the Georgian Dream is now subjected to the same narrative of obeying American expectations.

Painting an alternate reality where the protesters are committing violence, and the police are the victims

In the late night of November 28 and the morning of November 29, the authorities started to crack down on protesters. While the use of tear gas, water cannons, and pepper spray did not come as a surprise, photo-video evidence and reports of excessive use of force and human rights violations from the special forces stunned the public, further exacerbating the situation. According to the report from detainees compiled by GYLA, they were subjected to violence by law enforcement officers both during and after their arrest. During their transportation in the police vans, they were beaten by several special forces officers. In addition to the beating, as reported, officers spat on the detainees, verbally abused them, and threatened to rape them. Some of the detainees also reported that the special forces took off their shoes, leaving many barefoot upon arrival at medical facilities. As reported by GYLA, the mobile phones of some detainees were also confiscated. In some instances, the violence against detainees continued even inside the police stations.

Later on, the government imposed restrictions on the sale of fireworks and gas masks. Special forces conducted raids on activist groups and political party offices, arresting individuals suspected of involvement in organizing the protests. Authorities also began illegally searching people’s bags in public spaces, including metro stations near Rustaveli Avenue, where protests are held, confiscating any protective equipment found on protesters. Those who refused to comply with the police's illegal orders were detained. On December 7, a group of government-backed masked men attacked and severely beat a journalist and a cameraman live on air. The same group brutally assaulted opposition political figures in their party offices. Simultaneously, several protesters were detained for arbitrary reasons, while the government-backed attackers have not been punished or detained. To date, no police member has been arrested for the use of excessive force and torture against protesters, while protesters are detained or arrested for trumped-up charges.

Propaganda paints a completely different picture, where the protesters are the violent ones, and the police are the victims. Anonymous pages on TikTok, in a seemingly coordinated manner, cherry-pick video footage and take it out of context to make it look like the protesters are the violent ones and the police are the victims, completely neglecting the circumstances described above.

The anonymous page - Mister Aravin - posted numerous such. One video shows a coloured smoke pyrotechnic being thrown at the police, which the police immediately throw back at the protesters. The text attached to the video reads – “They are throwing Molotov Cocktails at the polic,” which is visibly not true. Another video shows a protester throwing water back at the special forces with a bucket. The water accumulated in front of the parliament building after the special forces used water cannons. However, the text attached to the video makes a false claim that “a protester is throwing gasoline at the parliament building.”A third video posted shortly after shows the police using water cannons against protesters, but the text attached reads – “If a police officer dies, who will take responsibility?”. An additional video depicts different objects being thrown at the special forces while the protest dispersal was taking place. The text attached reads – “violence against the police”. This video was published on December 7, the night where not only the special forces but government-backed masked men brutally assaulted protesters and journalists.

On December 3, the accounts Mister Aravin, merabkostava_, sakartvelos.mcvel, and _geonews_ (now a deleted account) published the same postcard originally posted by pro-governmental media POSTV, which shows an injured policeman and lists the names of several protesters who were arrested for allegedly damaging public property and shooting fireworks at police and the parliament building. Notably, these protesters are facing sentences from 3 to 7 years, while not a single person was detained for attacking or using excessive force against protesters or journalists.

After government-backed masked men brutally assaulted several people, including a journalist and a cameraman, near the protest area, a group of protesters organized to patrol the surrounding areas and protect people from similar attacks. On December 9, accounts Aragarevinebt.official and realooba posted a video about this group. On one post, the caption reads - “radicals created a non-formal, masked group!!!”, another one drew parallels with Jaba Ioseliani, the founder of the illegal military group from the 1990s that committed crimes throughout Georgia and participated in a coup against the first President in 1991. In reality, this is a misleading comparison as the group is not armed, nor have they been engaged in any organized violence.

Aragarevinebt also published a video collage of protesters throwing and setting fire to objects and of policemen defending themselves. The account georgiareality1991 posted a similar video collage with the caption – “Protests portrayed as peaceful. In reality, a coup attempt”. pilpani4 posted numerous videos (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) of protesters shooting fireworks and throwing objects at the special forces, with the attached texts stating that “all radical protesters should be jailed”. Gigaiberieli and media_archive published videos of protesters shooting fireworks at the police with the description – “police are just standing, trained radicals are throwing rocks, fireworks. This is how it started”.

Other accounts are also spreading similar content. For example, the account mxileba posted a video of a standoff between the riot police and protesters with the text: “Footage of how they are throwing Molotov cocktails at the police and then they are surprised when the police throw rocks and brutally beat them. If the protesters were peaceful nothing would happen”. Gamoitseret (“Follow me” in Georgian), posted a video of damaged street cameras with the text: “These lying mother*ckers… the protesters removed and damaged street cameras, can’t you see?”. This video from vaime_qindzi_viyo shows demonstrators filling a plastic bottle with soil to throw at the special forces after they were faced with water cannons in front of the parliament building. However, the caption reads “a protest of Molotovs”. A post from Agentura reads, “aggressive protester seems to be armed”. Same footage was posted by kartuliarxi and georgiareality1991 with the description “protester with a pistol”. In reality, a firearm was never detected or confiscated by the authorities at the protests. Similarly, the account Setera45 posted a video of a peaceful rally with the claim, “They are getting ready to attack the parliament building”.

These posts completely exclude the context and the events leading up to the protesters reaction, described above and reported by international and local human rights organizations. In some cases, the posts are not only without important context, but embellished with false claims to exacerbate the perception that the protesters are violent and thus deserve the violence from the police. Overall, they create a pretext to endorse and justify the violence from the special forces, which, in some cases, has been described by the Georgian Public Defenders office as acts of torture.

Venerating the police and its violence against protesters

Another way these accounts, along with others, attempt to excuse or disregard violence against protesters is by idealizing and venerating the police force and its high-ranking officials, who are organizing the crackdowns and are sanctioned by the UK and by the US under the Global Magnitky Act for human rights abuses.

Several accounts carry the name of the Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Special Tasks Department, Zviad Kharazishvili, also known as “Khareba”, who leads and organizes the police violence - smd69859 Zviad Kharazishvili (Khareba), zviadxarazishvili0 ზვიად ხარაზიშვილი, kaxagogidzemgelia (Khareba is a hero)🔥🔥, and xarebaofficial ხარება • Khareba, all of them dedicated to portraying “Khareba” in a positive light.

The account luka_tsereteli seems to be solely dedicated to venerating “Khareba”. In one video, “Khareba” tells a journalist – “I do not beat young people, I beat ba*tards. We have a list [of targets], I can show you”. Another account published the same type of video. These posts are edited and accompanied by music in a way that romanticizes and supports these types of actions from authorities. The same account posted a video of “Khareba” saying, “fu*k Khabeishvili’s mother”. Another video shows an opposition politician, Levan Khabeishvili, saying that, “Khareba is not that scary, he is a small man”, which is followed by a frame showing Khabeishvili’s injured face. In May 2024 Khabeishvili was severely beaten by the Special Tasks Department, soon after Zviad Kharazashvili, head of special forces, swore at him. The same type of video was posted by another account. The videos promote this type of violence. Numerous other posts, which include videos of violence and swear words said by “Khareba”, revere the human rights abusers and Special Tasks Deparment leadership - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. In the videos where a talk can be heard on the radiofrequency during a dispersal between “Khareba” and Kakha Chumburidze, a high-ranking officer of the Special Tasks Department, “Khareba” is saying – “Kakha, take action Kakha, f*ck their mothers”.

During one of the violent dispersal of the protests, a TV Formula journalist approached “Khareba”. The journalist asks: “Shall we give up our homeland to Russians?” Kharazishvili responds with a counter question: “Shall we give it up to Pederasts (fa**ots, პიდარასტებს)?”, referring to the protesters. On one hand, he uses a derogatory term against the protesters, and can be classified as hate speech, on the other, taking into account his position and the circumstances in which he made the statement, his statement justifies and endorses beatings of the protesters and journalists. However, several accounts - nbsnbs09, space_gubo, political_page, and gamoitseret - spread this excerpt in a positive way, portraying “Khareba” as a cool masculine guy. The account Sakartvelos.mcvel posted a picture of sanctioned high-ranking MIA officials with the description, “If you are sanctioning people for maintaining order and loving their country, then f*ck your mothers! Glory to hero policemen!”. Text on another similar post reads, “Sanctioned for being patriots. F*ck your Europe and values LGBT people!”.

Other accounts also posted video edits of “Khareba” (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Apart from “Khareba” himself, some videos are dedicated to revering the special forces that are committing violence against peaceful protesters (1, 2). Anonymous accounts pilpani 4, kartuliarxi, gigaiberieli and gamoitseret posted the same video edit revering the Georgian police at the same time on December 16.

On December 4, masked police arrested opposition party “Coalition for Change” leader Nika Gvaramia in a violent manner. Anonymous account mxileba posted several videos of the brutal arrest with texts that endorse this type of violence from officials. “Gvaramia’s beaten like a b*tch dog. Good job boys, arrest others too”, reads the text in one video. “Footage of Gvaramia’s arrest, good job boys, they beat him like a b*tch dog, arrest others too”, reads the text in another post with the same video. “Footage of Gvaramia’s arrest like a b*tch dog, good job boys”, reads the text from another video showing the same incident.

Portraying protests as a foreign-sponsored “Maidan” scenario

Since 2020, the Georgian Dream and state institutions have assessed public protests against the government as violent coup attempts. The State Security Service of Georgia launched investigations into possible attempts at a coup three different times (1, 2, 3). However, these assessments and statements remained only as such and supporting evidence was never presented to the public. The Georgian Dream has framed every protest as a foreign-backed coup in an attempt to establish a perception in society that any type of opposition against the governments unpopular decisions will lead to destabilization, bloodshed, and subsequently, a war with Russia. This narrative was especially amplified in the run-up to the October 26 parliamentary elections. The Georgian Dream and its affiliates were constantly speaking about how foreign forces, the “Global War Party” as they called it, which, according to them, “has significant influence on the EU, the US, and NATO, would try to undermine the ruling party, not recognize election results, incite a coup, and make the new government open a “second front” against Russia. The speakers often brought the “Maidan” revolution as a reference.

This line of thought was reflected in the founder of the Georgian Dream party and the informal ruler of the country, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s April 29 speech, who said that modern Georgia “is not Ukraine under Yanukovich”. Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream effectively put themselves in the shoes of Yanukovich and positioned their opponents as “Maidan” revolutionaries “seeking to destabilize the country and drag Georgian into devastating war against Russia.”

The Georgian Dream “stole” the “Maidan” narrative from a pro-Russian violent group, Alt Info, which organized and executed violence against LGBTQI+ activists and journalists on July 5, 2021, and July 8, 2023. Notably, the leaders of the group, Zurab Makharadze and Konstantine Morgoshia, were sanctioned by the US under the Global Magnitsky Act. In the second half of 2023, Alt Info was mobilizing people around the country and enlisting them in the “anti-Maidan movement”, the purpose of which was to physically challenge any attempts at a pro-Western protest against the government.

As soon as the Georgian Dream’s unpopular decision to halt the country’s EU integration process was followed by mass protests, Georgian Dream-backed individuals created a Facebook group, “Anti-Maidan”, which mobilized Georgian Dream supporters in the online realm and is dedicated to smearing protests and its participants. The Georgian Dream and its affiliates actively paint the protests as a foreign-backed “Maidan” attempt in Georgia, a narrative that is steadily spread on TikTok as well. Accounts with the name “Anti-Maidan” (ანტიმაიდანი) have also appeared on TikTok - antimaidan8 ანტი მაიდანი, liberastebisrisxva Antimaidani✊, antimaidani ანტი მაიდანი • Anti Maidani.

The accounts Geo.course and Pilpani4 posted a video of Irakli Kobakhidze where he makes the following statement: “They always remind us of Maidan, and I want to remind you what happened to Ukraine after Maidan. At the time, the government was installed from outside. When you install a government from outside, you have to take responsibility for the country, but we can all see what happened in Ukraine after that. Ukraine was a country with territorial integrity, economically advancing with an economy of almost $200 billion before that. Today, the country is destroyed, the economy is in a catastrophic situation, Russia occupies 20% of the country, and tens of thousands of people have died, including hundreds of children – who takes responsibility for this? And now, when they remind us of Maidan in the Georgian context, we have to ask who takes responsibility for the repercussions that Ukraine faces because of Maidan and what it might bring to Georgia? We will do everything to make sure that Maidan and “Ukrainiziation” does not happen in Georgia. The “second front” is something that we will not allow in Georgia.”

Another video, with a text attached – “Nats-Maidan will not take place!” – shows Irakli Kobakhidze making the following statement the day after the special forces violently cracked down on the protesters: “Yesterday everyone once again saw that a “Nats-Maidan” will not take place in Georgia. For three years now, specific European politicians and bureaucrats who could not achieve the “Ukrainization” of Georgia are constantly trying to use EU candidate status and accession talks issue to weaken the country and artificially divide society. They, along with the local agent network, are also responsible for yesterday’s violent protest… They cannot understand that in contrast to 2013 Ukraine, modern Georgia is an independent state with strong institutions and wise people. A Maidan scenario will not be executed in Georgia, and the Georgian state will not allow this.” In the rest of the video, Irakli Kobakhidze tarnishes the protests, the opposition, and the West and justifies the violence against the protesters.

The account dalinarkholin posted a video of a pro-governmental expert speaking about how a foreign-backed Maidan revolution in Georgia will lead to a civil war, economic decline, rise in crime, and dissolution of territorial integrity. According to him, the West is trying to use Georgia as a geopolitical tool against Russia, which will turn Georgia into “another Ukraine”. Another authentic account revazkaranadze (1, 2) endorses the governments narratives and publishes posts about how the protests in Georgia are artificially incited by the US because Washington aims to overthrow the Georgian government.

On December 12, at the same time, Avoe.ge, Sakartvelos.mcvel, realooba, and misteraravin posted the same Telegram screenshot – “Russian sources are reporting that protesters are planning to kill a person to cause more bloodshed and destabilization.” Notably, several days later, the State Security Service of Georgia stated, without providing evidence, that the organizers of the protests “plan to prevent the presidential election process of Georgia in every way, which will artificially cause a government crisis. To this end, the organizers of the crime are considering maximally escalating the situation, which should result in the deaths of 2-3 people.”

Accounts shakoshakooooo and bekachkhai drew parallels between the 2014 Euromaidan protests and the 2024 protests in Georgia, both depicting Christmas trees wrapped with protest posters. Anonymous channels Agentura and eliso.killadze connected the Georgian protests to the Euromaidan revolution with videos of protesters handing out food to others, while gamoitseret argues that flags signed by Western politicians are part of the same scenario – “A PR strategy written in the same office by the same patrons” – reads the text attached. Aragarevinebt, a page with explicit ties to Vato Shakarishvili, former member of the Georgian Dream and currently a pro-governmental figure, published a video of a Polish journalist being pushed away by the special forces during dispersal of the protests with the description “Law enforcement officers have arrested a Polish instructor of the violent radical Maidan group.” The same account posted a video collage of the Maidan revolution in Ukraine and Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, falsely suggesting that the 2014 revolution is the cause of the Russian invasion.

Ridiculing and insulting protesters for their appearance and opinions

Perhaps the most widely used tactic to discredit the protests, especially by anonymous accounts, is to take excerpts from interviews of the protesters and tarnish, debase, and insult them. This tactic is used not only against protesters but against celebrities and public figures such as actors, footballers, influencers, etc., who openly support the protests and criticize the government.

For example, after publicly voicing their opinions, former sports commentators and influencers Tato Batsikadze and Giorgi Kalatozi became a target of gamoitseret, avoe.ge (1, 2) terentigldaneli (1, 2, 3), eliso.killadze (1, 2, 3), and Sakartvelos.mcvel (1, 2, 3, 4). These pages use profoundly insulting words against the influencers because they partnered with and were sponsored by a betting organization. Propaganda calls them “casino propagandists” and immoral people for it.

Famous actors became a core part of the protests, with many of them going on strike until the crisis in the country perseveres. Kakha Kintsurashvili is one of the vocal figures who openly speaks out against the government and is consequently a target of propaganda. He is “shamed” for kissing another actor during a theater play and insulted by mxileba, liberastebisrisxva, terentigldaneli, media_archive, realooba. Another actor, Giorgi Bakhutashvili, who was briefly detained during one of the dispersals, was also a target of mxileba, siakhleni (1, 2), aragarevinebt, and eliso.killadze. Other actors were also attacked by anonymous TikTok accounts. Each of these posts contains severe insults and profane words towards these actors.

Aragarevinebt, gamoitseret, and bekachkhai posted a video making fun of the same protester who is seemingly nervous to speak in front of the camera. Aragarevinebt also published post making fun of a protester for her hairstyle. terentigldaneli and space.gubo published the same video making fun of another protester who is reading a poem he wrote about Georgia. Agentura published a video discrediting a protester for the way he speaks and another video tarnishing the “Mother’s rally”, where the women shout – “let them go, that’s my child”. Pilpani4 published a video of a woman breaking through the special forces with the caption – “is she even normal?” and another video mocking a protester for expressing his opinion. Similarly, merabkostava is ridiculing another protester for speaking emotionally.

The anonymous account mxileba referred to the protesters as sheep herd and posted the same videos three times (1, 2, 3) depicting clergy of different religions joining the rally while singing the Georgian anthem. The attached text reads: “A mixture of cults, none of them are Orthodox Christians, every one of them are pagans, this is where these people [the protesters] are heading, even though loyalty to Christ and the real religion, Orthodoxy, saved our country”.

These posts are aimed at portraying the protesters as stupid, mistaken, ill-willed, and disagreeable. It also creates an atmosphere where public figures or individual citizens risk personal attacks if they speak their minds publicly, ultimately attempting to make them refrain from doing so.

Discrediting the protests with anti-LGBTQI+ content

Another major line of anti-Western, pro-governmental propaganda portrays pro-Western citizens and opponents of the Georgian Dream as “LGBT propagandists” who want to undermine the Georgian Church and Christianity in Georgia. The narrative is amplified by the Georgian Dream’s decision to pass the law on so-called “family values and protection of minors” in September, which significantly limits freedom of speech, expression, and assembly and stigmatizes the LGBTQI+ community. Propaganda mostly takes the identity issues dominating the Western “culture wars” and, although irrelevant, tailors it to the Georgian context to manipulate this sensitive issue, mostly by demonizing the LGBTQI+ community and its allies. With this narrative, the Georgian Dream positions itself as the defender of traditions, families, Christianity, and conservative values. In contrast, those who oppose them are portrayed as the ones undermining the Georgian identity.

Unsurprisingly, the “LGBT propaganda” narrative was used against the protests, with propaganda channels using something as simple as a rainbow coloured hat and an AI-generated image (see debunking article) in an attempt to discredit the protests. Interestingly, aragarevinebt, agentura, avoe.ge, and politkivili posted the same video at the same time on December 2 of a lesbian couple kissing at the protest. “Perverted gay protesters”, and “This is sickening”, read the attached texts.

Making it seem like not enough people attend the protests.

Anonymous pages use drone footage of the protests taken by pro-governmental media channels to paint a picture as if not enough people attend and that, the protests do not have enough support in society. It can be supposed that the footage was taken before or after the peak of the protests because pictures from the protests show that tens of thousands of people attend (1, 2, 3, 4).

These type of video were published by – misteraravin (1, 2, 3), pilpani4 (1, 2, 3) terentigldaneli (1, 2), avoe.ge, gamoitseret, realooba, kartuliarxi, chronicle_of_politics, and postv.

Conclusion

Observations show that malign actors operating in the Georgian TikTok space publish similar or identical content within a short frame of time from each other. That could mean that these accounts operate in coordination and engage in platform manipulation. This suspicion is strengthened by the fact that Meta removed accounts with the same names in the past for CIB and other violations. Apart from suspected coordinated behaviour and the spread of false information, the observed accounts use profoundly insulting language against protesters and anyone who opposes the Georgian Dream, with instances of hate speech and calls for violence.

The observation showed that the reviewed accounts are using every means available to diminish, undermine, discredit, and insult the protests and their participants through TikTok in order to manipulate public opinion by, for example, portraying protesters as violent radicals and weak, unintelligent people simultaneously. Moreover, the observed content completely neglects the human rights abuses from the special forces and violation of fundamental rights, even promoting, supporting, and encouraging such actions, which has the potential to not only significantly deceive the public but sow more violence and hatred in an already turbulent environment.