Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze believes that today in Georgia, it is essential to strengthen the Law on Transparency and also to establish regulations that apply to media in Great Britain.

“When we started working on the Transparency Bill, remember what aggression came forth, what a wave of lies and slander arose. What was all this saturated with? They told us that transparency is bad and that NGO funding shouldn’t be transparent. However, after Donald Trump’s presidency, everything became evident. What we had been talking about for so long became clear and evident with one statement,” noted Kakha Kaladze.

According to him, it was revealed that USAID and NED’s financial expenses “were packaged as democratic processes, while in reality they were directed at attempted coups and overthrowing governments.”

“Therefore, it’s even more important to strengthen the transparency law and adopt a FARA analogue, where specific crimes carry criminal penalties,” noted the Tbilisi Mayor.

According to him, the flawed standards of today in certain media outlets regarding the circulation of slander and lies need to be changed.

“We have repeatedly stated that we want to adopt British standards and operate with the same principles in Georgia. What’s happening today is unimaginable. You can accuse a person of slander and lies, after which you have to defend yourself that you’re not, for example, an elephant, and so on. How many fake news stories are spread, how many lies, and all of this needs to be regulated,” stated Kakha Kaladze.

According to him, this step will also raise the quality of journalism in the country.