Kakha Bekauri, Chairman of the National Communications Commission (ComCom), met with members of the Council of Europe election observation mission to assess the state of pre-election monitoring within the Georgian media landscape.

According to Bekauri, ComCom bases its decisions regarding the placement of free political advertisements and election campaigns in the media on legal statutes, judicial precedent, and European standards.

He addressed instances where some Georgian media outlets have refused to allocate airtime for free political advertisements from the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GD) party, citing hate speech concerns, while simultaneously being willing to broadcast commercials from other parties that “clearly contained hate speech.”

“The standard we adhere to is aligned with European best practices and the principles established by the Strasbourg Court regarding hate speech. As a result, the video in question is classified as hate speech,” he explained.

Bekauri emphasized that media outlets are obliged to air the GD’s free political advertisements. He underscored that ComCom must ensure that pre-election campaigns are conducted in full compliance with the law, enabling society to receive comprehensive information and make informed choices during the elections.