{"id":63898,"date":"2021-03-15T11:36:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T07:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mythdetector.ge\/newly-created-facebook-pages-and-old-trolls-rush-to-protect-bera-and-confront-journalists\/"},"modified":"2021-09-10T15:21:30","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T11:21:30","slug":"newly-created-facebook-pages-and-old-trolls-rush-to-protect-bera-and-confront-journalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mythdetector.ge\/en\/newly-created-facebook-pages-and-old-trolls-rush-to-protect-bera-and-confront-journalists\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly Created Facebook Pages and Old Trolls Rush to Protect Bera and Confront Journalists"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 6, TV Pirveli aired<\/a> an audio conversation allegedly between Bera Ivanishvili, Irakli Garibashvili and Anzor Chubinidze whose authenticity was initially questioned<\/a> by the Georgian Dream lawmakers and dubbed<\/a> as \u201ca fabrication.\u201d However, in the interview<\/a> with Imedi TV on March 9, Bera Ivanishvili, son of the ruling party founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, did not deny that he punished those who insulted him and his family by writing undesirable comments on social media. Shortly after Bera\u2019s interview was aired, the Georgian Dream members started to talk not about the authenticity of the audio recordings, but about Bera protecting his personal dignity, noting that it is<\/a> the duty of all \u201cGeorgian men\u201d to adequately respond to insults against their mothers. Some lawmakers tried to compare current and previous governments by recollecting<\/a> the incidents that took place under the previous government.<\/p>\n

After TV Pirveli aired the covert audio recordings, prompting the opposition and civil society organizations to demand their investigation, posts and comments supporting Bera emerged on social media, on the one hand, and a campaign discrediting journalists, including Nodar Meladze, was unleashed, on the other. Two new Facebook pages (\u10df\u10e3\u10e0\u10dc\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e1\u10e2\u10d8<\/a> (Journalist), \u10dc\u10dd\u10d3\u10d0\u10e0 \u10db\u10d4\u10d6\u10e6\u10d0\u10de\u10e0\u10d4<\/a> (Nodar Storyteller) were created to discredit journalists; moreover, two new pages (\u10d5\u10d8\u10d3\u10d4\u10dd<\/a> . Video<\/a>, \u10df\u10e3\u10e0\u10dc\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e1\u10e2\u10e3\u10e0\u10d8 \u10db\u10d0\u10e0\u10d2\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e2\u10d4\u10d1\u10d8<\/a> (Journalistic Pearls)) created after the detention of Nika Melia, leader of the opposition United National Movement party, also got involved in the campaign of discrediting media outlets critical of the government. The posts of newly created pages were spread by old pages discrediting the opposition (Mikheil Ukrainologi, Terenti Gldaneli, Enemies of the County) with identical comments, suggesting that these pages may be administered by one group with links to the government.<\/p>\n

Myth Detector has identified 30 trolls involved in the campaign. They were expressing support to Bera Ivanishvili and praising his family, on the one hand, and simultaneously recollecting the situation under the previous government to overshadow current developments, on the other.<\/p>\n

Facebook pages <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Two new Facebook pages \u10df\u10e3\u10e0\u10dc\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e1\u10e2\u10d8<\/a> (Journalist) and \u10dc\u10dd\u10d3\u10d0\u10e0 \u10db\u10d4\u10d6\u10e6\u10d0\u10de\u10e0\u10d4<\/a> (Nodar Storyteller) were created immediately after the covert audio recordings were aired (on March 8 and March 9, respectively). Both are targeting TV Pirveli and personally Nodar Meladze. In addition, the page \u10dc\u10dd\u10d3\u10d0\u10e0 \u10db\u10d4\u10d6\u10e6\u10d0\u10de\u10e0\u10d4<\/a> is sponsored.<\/p>\n

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Two new Facebook pages created after the detention of UNM leader Nika Melia have also joined the campaign against journalists. The pages \u10d5\u10d8\u10d3\u10d4\u10dd<\/a> and \u10df\u10e3\u10e0\u10dc\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e1\u10e2\u10e3\u10e0\u10d8 \u10db\u10d0\u10e0\u10d2\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e2\u10d4\u10d1\u10d8<\/a> were created on February 25 and February 24, respectively.<\/p>\n

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All the four pages are used to discredit journalists from those TV channels that are critical of the ruling party.<\/p>\n

All the posts published by Facebook page \u201c\u10df\u10e3\u10e0\u10dc\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e1\u10e2\u10d8<\/a>\u201d (Journalist) are targeting journalists of TV Pirveli, Mtavari Arkhi TV and Formula TV.<\/p>\n

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On the third day of airing the audio recordings during TV Pirveli\u2019s program Nodar Meladze\u2019s Saturday, a new page \u10dc\u10dd\u10d3\u10d0\u10e0 \u10db\u10d4\u10d6\u10e6\u10d0\u10de\u10e0\u10d4<\/a> (Nodar Storyteller) emerged on Facebook. The page has published two posts so far and both aim at discrediting the journalist. One of the videos<\/a> (archive<\/a>) has been doctored to leave an impression that the journalist calls himself a phallus.<\/p>\n

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\nFacebook page \u201c\u10df\u10e3\u10e0\u10dc\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e1\u10e2\u10e3\u10e0\u10d8 \u10db\u10d0\u10e0\u10d2\u10d0\u10da\u10d8\u10e2\u10d4\u10d1\u10d8<\/a>\u201d (Journalistic Pearls) is also involved in the campaign of discrediting journalists. It shares the materials identical to those of the second page, as well as other materials shared by other pages discrediting opponents.<\/p>\n

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For example, after the Tbilisi City Court approved<\/a> the Prosecutor\u2019s Office\u2019s motion to retrieve Bera Ivanishvili\u2019s audio recordings from TV Pirveli, the pages supporting Georgian Dream and discrediting the opposition simultaneously spread the video and screenshots from TV Pirveli\u2019s special program. The accompanying captions mainly focused on mournful atmosphere in the TV studio:<\/p>\n