On April 21, various social media users (1, 2, 3, 4), including Gabi Kamaev, anti-liberal doctrine, Irakli Jankarashvili, and troll account Daat Tsabadze, as well as anonymous pro-government account Terenti Gldaneli, published a photo of a participant of the rally held in front of the parliament against the so-called “agents law.” In the photo, the citizen is holding a poster with the inscription: “My husband and I are standing here, Russians!” The listed social media accounts spread the said photo with an interval of 9 minutes, the earliest photo was published by the government supporter Gabi Kamaev at 18:59, and the last photo appeared on the anti-liberal doctrine wall at 19:08.
The disseminated photo is altered. In fact, the citizen in the authentic photo is holding a poster with completely different content. The real inscription refers to jeopardizing Georgia’s European future and the protest against the “Transparency of Foreign Influence” law.
The authentic version of the circulated photo was taken during the rallies held in Tbilisi against the “Transparency of Foreign Influence” law and was published on the Facebook page of the Mtavari channel on April 16, 2024, along with other photos depicting the rally.
The actual inscription is in English and carries a completely different content. In fact, the citizen is holding a poster with the inscription “Knee-deep in the same shit. The European Future of our country is in danger.” There is no inscription on the poster, which mentions that the citizen attends the rally with his husband.
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Authentic Photo Source: Mtavari Channel |
Fabricated Photo Source: Gabi Kamev, Irakli Jankarashvili and others |
| Knee-deep in the same shit. The European Future of our country is in danger | My husband and I are standing here, Russians |
Demonstrations against the Law on the “Transparency of Foreign Influence” have been taking place in Tbilisi for several days now, citizens are demanding the withdrawal of the law. “Myth Detector” has already verified several visual manipulations spread on social networks to discredit the protests. see details below:
The visual manipulations used to discredit the protests are mostly homophobic or contain signs of slut-shaming.
About the Sources
Gabi Kamaev is a pro-government Facebook account. He often publishes posts supporting the Georgian Dream and discrediting the opposition. “Myth Detector” verified the disinformation spread by Kamaev a number of times in the past (1, 2).
The Facebook account “Irakli Jankarashvili” is a supporter of the “Alliance of Patriots” party and the founder of the website publicist.ge. He often publishes anti-Western, anti-Ukrainian, and anti-opposition disinformation both on his personal account and on the website and account “Anti-Liberal Doctrine”. The false information spread by him was repeatedly verified by the myth detector (1, 2, 3)
Daat Tsabadze is a pro-Russian troll who has been active on social media since 2019. He participated in the discrediting campaign against the anti-occupation protest. The myth detector verified the false information spread by Daat Tsabadze several times in the past (1, 2).
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