- At least six NGOs in Georgia, including EFCSN member Media Development Foundation, received court orders to turn over extensive information about their activities to the so-called Anti-Corruption Bureau, including personal data of beneficiaries and partners.
- This is the latest in a series of actions by the Georgian government adopting increasingly repressive measures against civil society organizations.
- The EFCSN stands with its Georgian members, Myth Detector (run by MDF), Fact-Check Georgia (GRASS) and GeoFacts as they work to challenge these efforts to repress press freedoms.
25 June 2025 – On 19 June 2025, European Fact-Checking Standards Network member Media Development Foundation, based in Georgia, received a court order informing of an investigation by the so-called Anti-Corruption Bureau into the organization’s activities. The Bureau demands access to an extensive amount of information about the organisation including sensitive personal data of beneficiaries and partners. At least five other NGOs in Georgia have also been targeted, which Amnesty International calls an “example of the authorities’ escalating repression of the rights to freedom of expression and association in Georgia”.
The EFCSN stands with its members Media Development Foundation (MDF), FactCheck Georgia (GRASS) and GeoFacts against unacceptable attacks on civil society and freedom of the press in Georgia, marked by a series of increasingly repressive laws, including the adoption of legislation labeling NGOs and media outlets as so-called “foreign agents”.
MDF has since filed a challenge to the investigation in court. Documents obtained from the court reveal that the investigations were launched in part due to the sharing of joint statements by NGOs concerning the state of media freedom and impeding on media rights in Georgia.
As members of the EFCSN, fact-checking outlets Myth Detector (run by MDF), Fact-Check Georgia (GRASS) and GeoFacts are held to the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and journalistic methodology. The EFCSN strongly rejects recent actions by the Georgian government to weaponize the country’s administrative and legal systems to suppress independent civil society in Georgia. We, along with our members, will continue to defend the rights and integrity of independent fact-checking organisations and to push back against a broader trend of democratic backsliding and authoritarianism in Georgia.
