The NGO Transparency International Georgia (TI) stated that the Georgian Dream party has turned rules for parliamentary journalist accreditation into a mechanism of pressure on critical media outlets.
The organization stated that over the past two months, around 15 representatives of critical media have been stripped of their parliamentary accreditation or faced restrictions on their work due to questions posed to MPs.
TI Georgia asserts that the tightened rules make it possible to penalize not only individual journalists, but entire newsrooms as well.
“It is precisely under these rules that over the past two months, around 15 representatives of critical media outlets have been stripped of parliamentary accreditation or restricted in their professional activities simply for asking MPs uncomfortable questions. This significantly hinders keeping the public fully informed about the processes taking place in the legislature,” the NGO emphasized.
It is noted that following changes to the accreditation rules in 2026, sanctions were tightened: for a repeated violation, the accreditation suspension period was increased to one year, and in certain cases, not only the journalist but also the media outlet they represent can lose accreditation.