Vice PM Mdinaradze: Hate speech division flags 170 offences in first month, Interior Ministry figures show

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has detected 170 suspected public order offences related to hate speech between June 1 and July 1, 2026, with 150 cases already referred to the common courts.

According to ministry data, of the 150 cases submitted, courts have already reached summary decisions on 33, with fines handed down in 31 instances. The remaining two cases concluded with formal verbal warnings.

“Everyone must understand that the target of hate speech and public abuse is not merely the specific individual at whom the insults are aimed. First and foremost, these actions are directed against society itself and the wider public interest,” stated Mamuka Mdinaradze, Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for Law Enforcement Coordination, during a press briefing at the Government Administration.

Mdinaradze added that the dedicated Ministry division would scale up preventative measures to eradicate personal abuse from the public sphere.

“Responding to hate speech and public vitriol does not depend on a complaint or the stance of any specific individual. For one person to publicly degrade another is an offence, and it is the fundamental duty of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to intervene, regardless of whether the victim considers themselves aggrieved. This approach serves a public interest that stands far higher than any individual’s subjective perception.
We must stamp out public insults, profanity, and bullying once and for all, ensuring the Georgian public no longer feels that an abusive minority can verbally tyrannise a decent majority. This is a positive obligation of the state, and I assure you, we will fulfil this duty flawlessly,” Mdinaradze declared.

The Deputy Prime Minister also explicitly linked the new measures to tackle long-standing societal polarisation, aiming at domestic critics and broadcasters.

“The urgent necessity to eliminate public abuse and hate speech arose precisely because, for years, these people institutionalised abuse and bullying as a normal standard. They turned profanity on television broadcasts and across media outlets into a commonplace occurrence, which ultimately triggered extreme polarisation within our society,” Mdinaradze said.

The Vice Prime Minister noted that specific media outlets, alongside opposition figures and their propagandists, have recently launched an organised campaign against the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“More specifically, they are targeting this newly established taskforce whose sole mission is to combat public hate speech and abuse. Following its creation, even a cursory glance proves that instances of public profanity, insults, and cyberbullying have dramatically plummeted. This is clear evidence that the Ministry’s preventative measures are working effectively.

As for the coordinated campaign against the Ministry, the foreign-agent opposition and their media apparatus use the absurd core argument that the victims themselves have no grievances, while boldly asserting that verbal abuse falls under freedom of expression.

This is nothing new to us. Acting on instructions from abroad, these people targeted the normalization of profanity. It is therefore hardly surprising that the robust preventative measures enacted by the Ministry are entirely unacceptable to them,” Mdinaradze concluded.