Legislation related to the media is a challenge – we will not invent anything new here – we will adopt the British standard, which is accepted in relation to the media, and implement it, the Chairman of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, stated while speaking to journalists.

He noted that if there are any questions regarding the accepted standards, they should be addressed to Britain or its embassy in Georgia.

“Legislation related to the media is a challenge. Due to these scandalous exposures, we saw that funds from the U.S. budget were spent through various organizations in the media to push a specific narrative, influencing a country or international media. We also saw revelations of media being funded to promote the exact propaganda the funders wanted. Secondly, we are talking about 'FAKE news' as a main challenge in the modern world. We often see the damaging effects of FAKE news in Georgia. Therefore, fighting 'FAKE news' is one of the main goals and challenges for modern democracies, and we, of course, must fight it. Therefore, we will not invent anything new here – we will adopt the British standard, which is accepted in relation to the media, and implement it. If you have any questions about this standard, refer to Britain or its embassy in Georgia, and they will explain it. Or, if you have any critical opinions, you can criticize Britain and its embassy,” said Papuashvili.

When asked what new standards the “Georgian Dream” is proposing with the adoption of this law, Papuashvili explained that "standards do not need to be established."

“Common sense tells us that you should not lie and should verify the information. Even though common sense tells us this and there are various codes of ethics, this is not being followed because there are no effective protection procedures for it,” Papuashvili said.

When asked whether the laws regarding the media would be stricter, Papuashvili noted that “they will not be stricter but will be more effective to ensure that disinformation does not deceive and confuse the public.”

“No, it will be more effective so that disinformation does not flood the brains of the public, confuse them, and deceive them on specific issues, but instead, they will receive accurate information. The public has the right to be informed and not disinformed. This legislation will ensure that,” Papuashvili said.

While discussing this topic, Papuashvili also mentioned that the Americans showed them “invoices” about how money was transferred to various media outlets to push the influence of the funders through these outlets.

“The Americans showed us the 'invoices' directly about what we had been talking about, how money was being transferred to various media to exert the funders’ influence through them. The media outlet was serving not the truth and the public, but its funder,” Papuashvili said.