The American Embassy will probably receive an appropriate response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - our legislation prohibits the public insult of people - then they should specifically say why [they are concerned], - this was stated by Georgian Dream MP Tengiz Sharmanashvili, responding to the US Embassy’s statement made in reply to a question from Radio Liberty, in which it was noted that they “are concerned about the Georgian government’s Directorate for Combating Hate Speech.”

According to Sharmanashvili, if the US Embassy has questions around this issue, the Georgian Foreign Ministry will provide a response.

“The American Embassy will probably receive an appropriate response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because our legislation prohibits the public insult of people. This is absolutely normal, and similar legislation is in force not only in Georgia but in most European countries. So if they have this question, I am sure the Foreign Ministry will answer.

Then they should specifically say why [they are concerned]. For example, does German court practice act differently? When a person was fined for expressions used against Merz - there was not even direct swearing - the German court explained that such a thing cannot be done.

Then it should be said where this court practice is correct. The explanation that Europeans can do this while Georgia cannot is unacceptable and wrong for us. If they explain that the practice of British or German courts is incorrect, then we too should review our approaches. But if they say that they can do it and Georgians cannot, this is discrimination, segregation, and a wrong approach,” - Sharmanashvili explained.

In response to a clarifying question about where the boundary lies between freedom of expression, insult, and hate speech, Sharmanashvili replied that both at the European and national levels, only a court can establish this boundary.

“Every kind of boundary is established by court practice. For example, only the Strasbourg Court can interpret the European Convention on Human Rights through its decisions. If these decisions are incorrectly interpreted by national courts, they are appealed to Strasbourg, which carries out the final review and determines whether they were interpreted correctly or not. So both at the European and national levels, only a court can establish this boundary,” - Sharmanashvili stated.

For reference, in response to a question from Radio Liberty concerning the imprisonment of citizens for insulting politicians on social media and the newly created “Directorate for Combating Hate Speech,” the US Embassy in Georgia stated that it “is concerned about the creation of this directorate.”

“We are concerned about the Georgian government’s Directorate for Combating Hate Speech. The best response to lies and false views is more freedom of speech, not enforced silence,” - the Embassy told Radio Liberty.