Communications Commission member Ivane Makharadze opened the Safer Internet Day event together with ComCom partners. Mr. Makharadze spoke about the challenges of safe internet use and the role played by the Communications Commission in combatting fake news and disinformation. He also informed the public about the projects implemented by the Commission to develop media literacy skills, which remains one of ComCom’s main priorities. According to Mr. Makharadze, the Commission will implement new projects based on European practices, allowing all target audiences to learn how to deal with large information flows and to safely use the internet. 

Along with Mr. Makharadze, the Safer Internet Day was opened by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Guram Guramishvili, chairman of the board of directors of the Internet Society Rati Skhirtladze, and EMIS director Dimitri Beridze. 

“We live in the age of technological progress, which brings us numerous benefits, but is also accompanied by challenges such as fake news, disinformation, cyberbullying and others. This is particularly the case with digital media, where a huge amount of information is gathered and quickly disseminated. Without digital literacy skills, people find it difficult to distinguish between real and fake news and to protect themselves from cyberbullying. The issue of online threats is critically important when it concerns our children.   

“The goal of the Communications Commission is to create a better and safer internet and help raise the level of digital literacy. We as the body responsible for the development of media literacy in Georgia are studying and using successful European practices to implement numerous important projects that serve to develop digital literacy. All projects that we have implemented with our partners in this short period of time are successful European initiatives. Naturally, they have been a success here as well. It is great to see significant demand for these projects coming from different target audiences,” Ivane Makharadze stated.

During his speech, Mr. Makharadze highlighted the EU-funded projects and cooperation with schools and universities in the field of media literacy. 

“We have started working with universities and have already achieved very specific results. We are strengthening our work in this field, and I am sure that soon all universities will be teaching media literacy. We are also working with ethnic minorities, as they are in particular need of media literacy skills. I must also highlight the EU-funded project that is designed to tackle disinformation through media literacy and emphasis on European values. This project is also being implemented in regions with large ethnic minority populations, among others. It devotes particular attention to the issue of safe internet use,” Mr. Makharadze added. 

Ivane Makharadze talked about the universal internetisation project, stating that the Communications Commission helps increase access to digital opportunities for the rural population of Georgia. The internetisation project is being implemented by the Communications Commission, the Georgian government and Open Net with the financial support of the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. The project will enable 500,000 citizens in 1000 villages across Georgia to access high-quality broadband internet and benefit from digital services such as e-healthcare, remote learning, e-governance etc. 

The Communications Commission takes part in the global Safer Internet Day initiative each year.