On the heels of Russia-style Foreign Agent Law, new restrictions continue to strangle the free press in Georgia

Author: Devin Windelspecht, MSc

July 3, 2025

HRRC calls on the Georgian government to repeal recently passed laws that create additional restrictions on independent reporting—including the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)—and to release unjustly detained journalist Mzia Amaglobeli. 

Protestors outside the Georgian parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia [Image source: Bloomberg News]

Months after Georgia’s ruling party, the Georgian Dream, passed a controversial “foreign agents law” that penalizes journalists and civil society organizations from receiving foreign funding, two new amendments to Georgian law threaten to further erode the ability for journalists to freely report in a country where press freedom is quickly cratering. 

The first of the two amendments makes changes to the country’s definition of defamation by repealing safeguards designed to protect journalists. Journalists in Georgia can now be sued for defamation even if they can prove that they acted in good faith or in the public interest, regardless of whether they offer an apology or retraction of the claim. The change is retroactive, too: journalists can be sued for defamation for claims made in the 100 days prior to the law taking effect. 

The second amendment prohibits journalists from filming inside of courtrooms, including in corridors and courtyards. Although the ability to record in courtrooms is variously restricted by countries around the world—such as the U.S., where it is generally not allowed—the timing of the amendment’s passage has been interpreted as a way to limit coverage of the trials of people arrested in anti-government protests in 2024. These trials include that of journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, who previously was on hunger strike to protest her detention for allegedly assaulting a police officer during the 2024 protests. 

Conditions for journalists have deteriorated significantly since the 2024 protests, which occurred as a result of the Russia-friendly Georgia Dream party suspending the accession process to become part of the European Union (EU), despite widespread public support for Georgia joining the EU. Journalists say they have been increasingly assaulted by police, arrested and fined for doing their work. 

In April 2025, a new Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), also known as the “foreign agents law,” was passed by Georgia’s parliament. The law would, among other penalties, impose a five-year jail sentence for individuals and organizations who receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign sources and do not report it. Transparency International Georgia warned that the law’s intent was to “introduce censorship or self-censorship in the media and impose content control over critical channels.” 

FARA is but the latest in a series of laws inspired by Russia’s foreign agent law which have passed or been proposed in countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, and El Salvador.

---

Glossary 

• Amendment - an addition or change to a currently existing law. 

• Accession – the process of joining an organization or political entity. 

• Censorship – being prevented from publishing information or an opinion by an outside source, such as a government. 

• Civil society - groups operating outside of the government, including the media, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, labor unions and charities.

• Corridor – hallway. 

• Crater – rapidly collapse. 

• Defamation – speech intentionally designed to negatively impact public opinion of a person through false or misleading information.

• Deteriorate – worsen. 

• Erode - worsen. 

• Good faith – made without intent to cause harm. 

• Hunger strike – intentionally refusing food as a form of protest.

• Retraction – withdrawal. 

• Retroactive – applying to actions that occurred before a law was put into effect. 

• Penalize – create punishments for.

• Public interest – actions made with the intent of benefiting the public, which are generally protected by law. 

• Self-censorship – choosing not to publish information or an opinion based on fears of repercussions. 

• Suspend – halt an action in progress.