Tinatin Berdzenishvili, Director General of the Georgian Public Broadcaster, stated that she will continue to take disciplinary action against employees for social media posts if they violate the principle of impartiality.
She was responding to a question from Board of Trustees member Lasha Tugushi, who inquired why employees were being “punished” for reposts on social media.
“As for reposts – yes, I promised that I would not change, and I intend to continue in the same vein. Yes, Mr. Lasha, I will continue to act in the way that you consider ‘bad.’
We have internal regulations. The law explicitly highlights the principle of impartiality. Social media is not a private space, as many claim. As a lawyer, you should understand this perfectly well. It is a powerful information tool that, according to all research and statistics, has a greater impact than First Channel or any other television channel – not only in Georgia, but worldwide.
Therefore, the argument ‘I wrote this on my social media’ is fundamentally flawed. It means that the person allowed themselves to publicly express a biased opinion. No employee of the Public Broadcaster has the right to do so. Yes, we do not have the right to express our own opinions in the public space, including on our social media pages. Yes, we will strictly monitor employees to ensure they do not express biased views,” Berdzenishvili stated.
Earlier, Board of Trustees member Lasha Tugushi asked the Director General why she considers it acceptable to dock employees’ pay or dismiss them for reposts.
According to Tugushi, one employee had her salary reduced by 30%, while another was warned that a repeated repost could lead to dismissal. He also recalled the firing of employees Zautashvili and Chikovani over their views, stating that such measures contradict the Constitution of Georgia and the principle of freedom of expression.