Georgian Dream sees a need to restrict foreign funding for online media.

The issue was raised at the plenary session of the Parliament during the discussion of the part of the draft law “On Broadcasting” that prohibits broadcasters from receiving funding from abroad.

“It is possible that certain forces from abroad could finance the so-called online media in our country, including for the purposes of subversive activities. Shouldn’t there be a regulation that would apply similar restrictions to what we call online media?”, said Archil Gorduladze, Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, at the plenary session of the Parliament.

The spirit of Gorduladze’s statement was shared by Rati Ionatamishvili, Chairman of the Human Rights Protection Committee, who reported on the planned amendments to the Law on Broadcasting.

As Ionatamishvili stated, the issue will require the preparation of another legislative package, and he expressed his willingness to work in this direction.

“When the media is funded by a foreign power, it is usually used to undermine local democracy, spread disinformation and manipulation. The media is one of the important foundations for the protection of national democracies. In many cases, the funding of foreign powers is a tool for exercising “soft power”.

The same conversations are relevant today in the US. These issues are not new to Europe either. In the UK, there is an Online Security Act, which dates back to 2003, and there is also one in the European Union, which dates back to 2024, where the regulation of online media is also one of the key issues.

As a source of information and a tool for exerting influence, online media is used even more than broadcasting,” said Rati Ionatamishvili.

The issue of financing and regulation of the Internet media was addressed by the majority leader Mamuka Mdinaradze at the session.

“There are several challenges in this direction. On the one hand, no one should be given space for speculation that someone is being restricted. On the other hand, the challenge is to achieve the goal.

The issue is very complex and we need to solve it in many directions. There are many topics for discussion - there are many obstacles to making a decision, and this requires a very complex approach,” said Mamuka Mdinaradze.

The Parliament discussed and adopted a draft in the second reading, according to which television and radio organizations are prohibited from receiving funding from a “foreign power”. As a result of the law’s enactment, media organizations will not be able to receive either monetary or other material benefits of property value from a “foreign power”.

More specifically, the Law on Broadcasting adds norms according to which it will be prohibited for a broadcaster to receive direct or indirect funding in exchange for placing social advertising.

It will be prohibited for a broadcaster to receive direct or indirect funding - cash or other material benefits of property value - from a foreign power.

In addition, it will be prohibited for a foreign power to purchase a broadcaster's services (except for commercial advertising and product placement) and directly or indirectly finance or co-finance the preparation or broadcast of a program.