For airing political advertising in violation of the law, the Communications Commission fined Mtavari Arkhi GEL 2500 and issued a written caution to PosTV. The Commission carried out media monitoring and found that in July of this year, the broadcasters aired video clips containing political advertising, namely: 

The political video clips aired by Mtavari Arkhi presented the Law of Georgia on Transparency of Foreign Influence in a negative context, describing it as a “Russian law” that presents danger to all sections of the society. These clips were designed to turn the public against the political unions and their representatives who supported the introduction of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence. The Commission therefore ruled that the clips aimed to create obstacles to the political unions supporting the law for the upcoming parliamentary elections. 

PosTV aired clips about various enterprises and entrepreneurs talking about the support of state programmes and successful projects in the field of entrepreneurship by the political union Georgian Dream. In addition, the clips included the caption “Over 100 Factories Funded by Georgian Dream.” The purpose of the political clips was not only to spread information about entrepreneurs or the state programme, but also to facilitate success of the political movement Georgian Dream in the parliamentary elections of 26 October 2024. 

The aforementioned clips were assessed by the Communications Commission as political adverts, which broadcasters are prohibited from airing outside of the period and procedure stipulated by the Election Code. The Commission therefore decided to sanction the broadcasters for violating the rules and norms for placing political/pre-election advertising outlined in the Georgian legislation. 

Due to the fact that Mtavari Arkhi had been issued with a written caution for a similar violation in the previous month, the Commission imposed the minimum penalty of GEL 2500 stipulated by law and instructed the broadcaster to immediately take the bideo clips off air. Due to the fact that PosTV had not committed a similar violation during the past year, the Commission issued the broadcaster with a written caution in accordance with the legislation.