Georgian Authorities Raid Homes of Disinformation Researchers Ahead of Elections (therecord.media) 68
Ahead of Georgia's parliamentary elections, Georgian authorities raided the homes of disinformation researchers Eto Buziashvili and Sopo Gelava, seizing personal devices. The Record: Eto Buziashvili and Sopo Gelava, both employees of the Atlantic Council think tank, had their homes searched and their own and their family members' personal devices seized by investigators working for the country's Ministry of Finance, according to friends of the pair who spoke to Recorded Future News. Both women are said to be safe, although there are concerns about the security of their devices and online accounts. The searches come a day after Buziashvili published an article detailing how the Kremlin was influencing Georgian politics by supporting the incumbent government and interfering in the upcoming elections.
Local media reported that the offices of outsourcing company Concentrix and other Georgian citizens were also subject to searches. The Ministry of Finance claimed on Facebook it launched searches of "specific facilities" related to "call centers" alleged to be engaged in illegal activity. The investigations come ahead of an election that is being seen as a bellwether of the country's future direction, either pursuing closer ties to Russia under the current prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze or moving towards the West through opposition figures. Graham Brookie, the Atlantic Council's vice president for technology programs and strategy, said the organization "is deeply concerned about this development and its impact on our staff's work shortly before Georgian elections. [Gelava and Buziashvili] are engaged in independent, non-partisan work aimed at defending and strengthening democracy from those who would undermine it in online spaces, including research related to foreign influence efforts, the targeting of marginalized communities, and other online harms."
"We trust that Georgian authorities will provide more clarity on their actions, ensure the safety and security of our staff, return their property, and allow them to continue their contributions to Georgian democracy."
Local media reported that the offices of outsourcing company Concentrix and other Georgian citizens were also subject to searches. The Ministry of Finance claimed on Facebook it launched searches of "specific facilities" related to "call centers" alleged to be engaged in illegal activity. The investigations come ahead of an election that is being seen as a bellwether of the country's future direction, either pursuing closer ties to Russia under the current prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze or moving towards the West through opposition figures. Graham Brookie, the Atlantic Council's vice president for technology programs and strategy, said the organization "is deeply concerned about this development and its impact on our staff's work shortly before Georgian elections. [Gelava and Buziashvili] are engaged in independent, non-partisan work aimed at defending and strengthening democracy from those who would undermine it in online spaces, including research related to foreign influence efforts, the targeting of marginalized communities, and other online harms."
"We trust that Georgian authorities will provide more clarity on their actions, ensure the safety and security of our staff, return their property, and allow them to continue their contributions to Georgian democracy."
Georgia? Atlantic Council? (Score:5, Funny)
I think the Georgia in question is next to the Caspian Sea, not anywhere near the Atlantic.
(This is not the US State of Georgia, nor the Island of South Georgia)
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"this wealthy corporatist is a leftist"
ok boomer. Do you need a lie down?
Re:Georgia? Atlantic Council? (Score:4, Interesting)
It would probably be asked to much from Journalists these days to rather poll a variety of inhabitants of Georgia on their opinion on the matter, rather than just recite other country's propagandists.
Sure thing, Vadim. Your english skills have given you away once again.
I'm sure you'll remember when Russia attacked Georgia and now occupies part of that country. The "people" didn't want anything of the sort in the same way none of the "people" of Ukraine "voted" for any seccession or "saving" by Russia. Like everything coming out of Moscow, it is all lies.
As to journalists doing their job, that is exactly why they get put in jail in Russia. For doing their job. It's why Alexy Navalny was put in jail and killed. He was doing investigative work on Putin's corruption. It's the same reason Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchnya [npr.org] was put in jail and then tortured to death. She was exposing the truth of Russia's terrorism in Ukraine.
If Russia has so much freedom as trolls like you like to claim, why is it so many journalists doing their jobs end up in jail? One would think with all that freedom you have, the authorities would be protecting journalists, not putting them in jail and killing them.
Perhaps keep your propaganda in your third world country rather than blathering it out and exposing yourself.
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Are all of you Russians homosexuals? That seems unlikely, although the muscular no-shirt hypermasculinity would fit.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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Give me just one tiny quote of Trump saying anything bad about Putin. But I'm sure it's because Trump is shy and doesn't like to say negative things about people.
On the other hand, Trump said Putin invading Ukraine was a genius move at first, and now that it was clearly an epic failure, says that Putin didn't want to invade, but was forced to by Biden. Poor little Putin.
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His initial invasion (of crimea) was a genius move, because noone did anything to stop him.
I'm sure he fully believed that this latest invasion would go the same way, with little/no resistance from ukraine and nothing but finger waving from the rest of the world. It's been a failure because ukraine managed to stall and even push them back in some areas, and have managed to gather a lot more support from other countries this time round.
This is what happens when you let someone get away with things, they come
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Internally, Republicans hate Democrats, and Democrats hate Republicans. California hates Texas for competing with them, Te
Re:Georgia? Atlantic Council? (Score:5, Informative)
both pretend they are the "goodies",
You can't equate the influence of the "Atlantic council" (an organization that hires 197 people) and the Kremlin, a large murderous organization who has started a land invasion of Georgia, illegally invading two regions: Abkhasia and South Ossetia.
to rather poll a variety of inhabitants of Georgia on their opinion on the matter,
Georgians are pro-West, and have been opposed to the "foreign agent" law copied from Russia. Georgians have been protesting continuously for the past years in protests that have been called "Massive" in March 2023 and May-June 2024 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] for example 50,000 protesters https://edition.cnn.com/2024/0... [cnn.com] Georgian protesters have been harbouring flags of the EU, of Ukraine, and of NATO alongside flags of Georgia. You can see them in today's still painting flags of Western symbols on the walls of their cities https://www.irishtimes.com/wor... [irishtimes.com]
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Georgians are pro-West, and have been opposed to the "foreign agent" law copied from Russia.
And so they certainly elected a government in 2020 that represents this opinion, right? The OECD at least said, those were free and fair elections. So the "authorities" now raiding homes do this on behalf of the people who elected them into power. For example, because they need to protect Georgia from foreign agents, such as the ones from Russia...?
I am far from liking any of the bully regimes that try to expand their area of influence by either buying corrupt politicians or by military violence, but I ge
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And so they certainly elected a government in 2020 that represents this opinion, right?
Yes in 2020 they did. You realise that party they elected has had a complete shakeup in leadership right? That not the party chair, nor the prime minister, nor their manifesto remains the same as in 2020? You realise that the Georgian Dream party in 2020 was a pro-EU center-left party, and yet now in 2024 they are a Eurosceptic party with very right win policies and a completely different manifesto? That manifesto which puts their path to EU membership they fought for in jeopardy despite only getting ascens
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*Pence to be hanged.
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And so they certainly elected a government in 2020 that represents this opinion, right? The OECD at least said, those were free and fair elections.
Georgians know they are pro-West as they elected a pro-West President. The pro-Russian party managed to reach power through complex rules of the Parliamentary election, but only secured a minority of votes.
The 2016 elections to the parliament lead to 48.5% to the pro-Russian party (Georgian Dream), while giving them a 75% super-majority due to the complex electoral rules. Following this, protests started to demand a change to a fully proportional electoral system for the 2020 elections. The incumbent pro-Ru
Re: Georgia? Atlantic Council? (Score:1)
The White House is in the exact same league as the Kremlin in the large murderous (â¦) department
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I think the Georgia in question is next to the Caspian Sea, not anywhere near the Atlantic.
(This is not the US State of Georgia, nor the Island of South Georgia)
From the Atlantic Council's own page [atlanticcouncil.org]:
Within a few years of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949, voluntary organizations emerged in the member countries of the Alliance to promote public understanding and support for the policies and institutions that would build collective security and peace. This international network of citizens’ associations was bound together formally in 1954 with the creation of the Atlantic Treaty Association.
In 1961, former Secretaries of State Dean Acheson and Christian Herter, with Will Clayton, William Foster, Theodore Achilles and other distinguished Americans, recommended the consolidation of the U.S. citizens groups supporting the Atlantic Alliance into the Atlantic Council of the United States. .
. .
Since its inception, the Council has administered programs to examine political and economic as well as security issues, and to cover Asia, the Americas and other regions in addition to Europe. All its programs are, however, based on the conviction that a healthy transatlantic relationship is fundamental to progress in organizing a strong international system.
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I cannot find any evidence that the Atlantic Council has anything to do with the CIA. Care to share some?
Re:Georgia? Atlantic Council? (Score:4, Informative)
The Atlantic Council has 7 former CIA directors serving on its board of directors. [1]
You can also look who is listed in the top tier of their funding:
($1,000,000+ tier)
United States Department of Defense, United States Department of State [2]
The Atlantic Council isn't some disinterested party to elections around the world.
[1] https://www.atlanticcouncil.or... [atlanticcouncil.org]
[2] https://www.atlanticcouncil.or... [atlanticcouncil.org]
Re: Georgia? Atlantic Council? (Score:2)
Russia Georgia. Not The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
Re: Georgia? Atlantic Council? (Score:2)
This is coming for America (Score:5, Insightful)
The Russian economy is in free fall for anyone but the top 10%. Maybe that'll be you. Personally I wouldn't roll a set of dice with a 90% chance of failure, but that's me.
Meanwhile just a friendly reminder that the Nazis were elected. And they were all about free speech right up until they were in charge.
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This. But let's not forget that Donald Trump has hardly shown himself to be a friend of free speech. Remember how he called for ABC to lose its license because he didn't like how the debate went? Yeah, about that:
The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy. The Commission does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage. -- FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, September 19, 2024, in response to Trump's statement about ABC
There's a real it can't happen here vibe (Score:4, Insightful)
But hell forget that The guy stole classified documents while communicating with a hostile foreign dictator. Just the fact that that didn't sink his campaign... I can't even. Can you imagine a shit storm if Hillary Clinton got caught doing that? Even today?
Re: There's a real it can't happen here vibe (Score:3)
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
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Because Trump is a moron, that didn't expect to win, and was not prepared, didn't have the men to put in place, didn't know what his powers were. Now Project 2025 has done that for him.
And how dare the DOJ investigate Trump for braking laws, don't they know Trump has immunity ? The Supreme Court that he chose said so.
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Re:This is coming for America (Score:4, Informative)
I'm amazed anyone wants to work with Trump now. When you look at how many former advisers and lawyers are now in jail or disbarred, it seems like a very risky proposition.
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The Russian economy is in free fall for anyone but the top 10%.
The lack of self awareness is astounding. Look around you in America. Most of its citizens are in an economic free fall right now. Medical care bankrupts everyone it touches unless you are part of the golden class. Real estate and/or rent is escalating through the stratosphere... and it is only just getting started.
I hope not, but I am expecting the elections this year to hold some really nasty surprises. Enjoy.
Americans wondering how Kremlin in Georgia .. (Score:1)
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Given the way Republicans carry on these days we could be forgiven for thinking this happened in the state of Georgia. It's totally believable, sadly.
Re: Americans wondering how Kremlin in Georgia .. (Score:1)
Evidence? (Score:2)
A CIA front? You're not the only Anonymous Coward to claim this. Care to share some evidence? Because I can't find any.
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Re: Atlantic Council CIA Front :o (Score:2)
Real time fascism in America (Score:1, Interesting)
It's one example of a nationally organized plan to intimidate individuals and interfere with organizations that are opposed to Trump's fascist Republican Party. In Texas the fascist Republican Attorney General Paxton raided Latino grass roots organizations doing get out the vote efforts.
In Florida the AG hired external lawyers to write cease and desist letters to news outlets showing advertisements for an abortion rights sta [tallahassee.com]
Re: Real time fascism in America (Score:4, Informative)
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This is how fascism attacks democracy, happening in real time in the US right now.
In Florida the AG hired external lawyers to write cease and desist letters to news outlets showing advertisements for an abortion rights state constitutional amendment:
What I hear you saying is that a US Citizen used their authority from their government job to pay another organization to violate a fundamental law and nothing is being done about it? No investigation? No penalties?
There is no fight here. Fascism is being welcomed with open arms.
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I think it's important to make a distinction between fascism and authoritarianism and corruption.
Trump is all 3 together and not even in minor ways; however, not all actions fall under all 3 so they are not interchangeable.
The problem today is Americans do not know what fascism is and Trump himself likely doesn't given how ignorant he is and also over simplifies what he does know; it could actually be intentional on his part... or old habits from being a teenager and never growing up (see definition of moro
Re: "Disinformation" Is a Catch-Phrase Clue (Score:2)
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I know I shouldn't feed the troll, but I can't help but wonder if the space aliens who have taken over your toaster are still trying to convince you to take off all your cloths and go to the nearest power t
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Time to build a fake power transformer: I hope the 72 virgins are female. Of course, 72 sluts would be preferred but no-one ever calls them magical and divine.
Harris acolytes (Score:2)
This is what you can expect in GA, USA depending on result of upcoming election.