Social Media Monitoring

As the 2021 local elections approach, a network of Facebook pages discrediting opposition and creating false and artificial support was activated. This network is linked to the far-right political party – “Georgian Idea”. To provoke political polarization and aggression, this network widely promulgates posts of sharply homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic and aggressive content. In order to influence the subscribers’ opinions, the pages systematically manipulate the religious and nationalist sentiments of the society. Campaigns waged with manipulating of values, have so far been exposed by ISFED on social media. In this case, “Georgian Idea” uses similar tactics to launch a Facebook campaign, which often uses defamatory and / or supportive messages from the clergy.

The coordinated network of "Georgian Idea" consists of 11 pages, five of which are anonymous, and the rest ones openly support the party. The FB pages: “Liberalism Kills”, “Adolescent”, “Political Footprints”, “My Lord, your are above all us” and “Georgian Page” pages act as if they were pages covering religious, nationalist or political events in general. However, they dishonestly use the platform's capabilities and in a coordinated manner, they distribute materials published on the pages openly supporting the party. The tactic of this network is the same - at the first stage, the leaders of the “Georgian Idea” launch the live videos via personal or official party pages. Then, in order to increase the number of video views, anonymous pages share the above-mentioned videos in the same time period. In some cases, the campaign includes sponsored posts created by anonymous pages to disguise the identity of the actual disseminator of defamatory and supportive narratives.

According to the data analyzed by CrowdTangle, since the creation of pages to June 7, the total interaction of the coordinated network pages of "Georgian Idea" is 3.83 million and in total, these pages have as many as 216,191 subscribers.

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Source: Facebook page „ქართული იდეა - qartuliidea.ge“

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Campaign by pages managed by "Georgian Idea"

Rati Kavelashvili seems to be head of the network. He is a server of the Chiatura and Sachkhere dioceses under the Archpriest Tadeoz Saralidze, who received a church sentence from the Patriarchate for his hate speech against children. It is worth noting that in 2020, Tadeoz Saralidze participated in the election campaign of the “Georgian Idea” party and urged the parishioners to support the party in the elections.

Rati Kavelashvili runs the FB group “My Lord, you are above us all” and at least two pages - “My Lord, you are above us all” and "Georgian page". “My Lord, you are above us all” is an anonymous page of religious content. The page description says: "Here you will find: icons, prayers, videos and various news." In fact, the page publishes religious materials to attract subscribers and gain the trust of users, and then provides a wide audience with anti-liberal and violent narratives in support of the "Georgian idea." It is worth noting that in September 2020, the leaders of the “Georgian Idea” used this page for Facebook live videos.

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Source: Facebook page ''My Lord, you are above us all''

Image: Guram Palavandishvili (leader of the Georgian Idea)
Live- topic 1 Covid ‘Panic-demic’, another attack on church (now physical)
Georgian Idea – 44

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In the group operating under the same name (Lord you are above us all), Kavelashvili shares live videos of the leaders of the "Georgian Idea", TV programs of "Alt-Info" (whose network has been removed by Facebook), discrediting posts of the civil sector and the Sunday sermons of the clergy. The group is also campaigning in support of the Reverend Spiridon, who kept the Ombudsman from entering the Ninotsminda boarding school, where alleged cases of child abuse were reported. Part of society protested this fact, whereas the "Georgian Idea" launched a campaign to discredit the Public Defender (Ombudsman). According to the party, the Public Defender wants “to introduce debauchery in the boarding house.” In this regard, the group “My Lord, your are above us all” and page of the “Georgian Idea” began to disseminate defamatory materials of the Public Defender. Content shared for this purpose include posts of Gia Gachechiladze's “Ai Ia” movement, the TV program “Ark of the Unknown” and  anti-liberal shows of the pro-Government media „POSTV“.

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Source: Facebook group ‘My Lord, you are above us all
Admins and Moderators: Georgia Page, Rati Kavelashvili, My Lord, you are above us all; Georgian Page

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FB page the “Georgian Idea” shares the same tactic of acting in a disguised manner. The description of the page says: “Everything Georgian, Georgian news, Georgian songs, Georgian music, Georgian verses” – and neither the title nor the primary information of the page indicates it operates in support of the political party. Number of posts shared also call on people to join Levan Vasadze’s social and political movement "ERI" (The Nation). The page also indicates Rati Kavelashvili's YouTube channel, which, in addition to Sunday Sermons, publishes conspiratorial, and discrediting videos of opponents and in support of the "Georgian idea." Page often manipulates the case of Davit Gareji and disseminates xenophobic statements and labels ‘liberals’ as anti-national elements because of their views on Davit Gareji case.

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Source: Facebook page „ქართული გვერდი / Georgian Page”

Text on the image: ''become a supporter''

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The FB pages “Adolscent”, “Political Footprints”, and "Liberalism Kills" operate in secrecy and their main activity includes sharing  FB live videos of the “Georgian Idea” leader – Mr. Ramin Abesadze. Shortly after the start of live broadcasts, his videos are published on the pages in the same time period, so it is likely that they are run by Ramin Abesadze himself.

Another page among the coordinated network runs by the name of the non-governmental organization founded by Guram Palavandishvili - The Society for the Protection of Children's Rights. However, the materials distributed and sponsored here serve to support the activities of the “Georgian Idea”. The information on the page points to the religious website ZNEOBA.GE, which is currently waging a homophobic campaign against the “March of Dignity” scheduled for July.

All other pages (“Georgian Idea - qartuliidea.ge”, “Ramin Abesadze • Ramin Abesadze”, “Social and Political Movement - Georgian Idea”, “With Palavandishvili” and “Georgian Idea for United and Moral Georgia”) are openly operated on behalf of the party. Materials published by those pages are distributed by the anonymous pages to reach the wider audience, using the religious and nationalist values to share specific messages.

Party leaders openly state as being against Sodomy, casinos, drug addiction and liberalism. The pages often spread conspiracies about "world governance" and vaccines against the COVID-19. At the same time, the pages form an idea that state is soon going to take away children from all poor families by virtue of the juvenile laws, and the “Georgian Idea” will take over “children’s protection”. In connection with the events taking place in the Ninotsminda boarding house, the "Georgian Idea" demanded resignation of the Public Defender and expressed support for the governor of the boarding house - Reverend Spiridon. The party is closely connected with Levan Vasadze’s political movement “ERI”. Coordinated network of pages frequently calls on society to join Levan Vasadze’s movement. From time to time, the pages share materials by "Alt-Info", which was removed by Facebook.

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A coordinated, inauthentic behavior of pages

One of the manifestations of coordinated behavior on social media is the publication of an identical message across multiple pages at short intervals. The goal of this method is to reach wider audience; this artificially influences the rapid and systematic formation of the desired political discourse in society. On the pages of the “Georgian Idea”, live videos are often published one after another at very short intervals, which testifies their coordinated behavior. It should be noted that 43% of published posts are in the form of photos, the interaction of which (the sum of likes, comments, reposts and emotions) is half of the total interaction. However, in the case of live videos, the average level of engagement with the post is much higher.

 

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Source: CrowdTangle

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Organized coordinated behavior is mostly applied when the party needs to mobilize society in a short manner. A good example of coordinated inauthentic behavior aimed at dividing society is the case when one of the party leaders, Ramin Abesadze, urged audience to gather in front of the State Chancellery to protect Ninotsminda boarding house from propaganda of vileness and debauchery.

It was at that time when civil activists held a peaceful rally in front of the building of the State Chancellery, demanding to let the Public Defender into the boarding house. “We have to try to disrupt it, and they will not be able to hold this rally. These people must be pulled out their hair, ” – said Ramin Abesadze in his live video.

His furious messages were coordinately spread on the pages within minutes. Among the posts amplifiers were anonymous pages: “My Lord, your are above us all, “Adolscent”, "Liberalism kills", "Society for the Protection of Children's Rights." As a result, the coincidence of peaceful and violent rallies escalated into conflict and the police arrested Ramin Abesadze and three other citizens.

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‘Georgian Idea’ coordinated distribution of violent statement, urging audience to gather against peaceful protest

Source: Screenshots of facebook pages related to “Georgian Idea” network
Pages: Ramin Abesadze; Adolescent; Liberalism Kills; My lord, you are above us all; Political footprint; The Society for the Protection of Children's Rights.  
Image of Ramin Abesadze

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The network’s coordinated behavior is also visible for spreading Guram and Alexander Palavandishvili’s posts. In some cases, the personal profile of Guram Palavandishvili is also an amplifier or primary source of the publication. “Georgian Page” is also among amplifiers.

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‘Georgian Idea’ coordinated distribution of statement, urging audience to join the rally
Screenshots of facebook pages related to “Georgian Idea” network.
text on image: Whole Georgia should gather on may 23^rd!!!

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Distribution of Live Video of Aleksandre Palavandishvili in the‘Georgian Idea’ coordinated network

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Sponsored, discrediting campaign by the name of Church

In order to reach the wider audience, the ‘Georgian Idea’ party frequently uses Facebook sponsored posts. Posts are sponsored mainly by ქართული იდეა - qartuliidea.ge and The Society for the Protection of Children's Rights”.

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Source: Facebook Ads Library

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Sponsored posts are mainly related to these topics:

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Source: Facebook Ads Library

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The inauthentic campaigns organized by “Georgian Idea” are not limited to party support and often spread discrediting content as well. Recently, one of the campaigns to discredit the Defenders of the Rioni Valley has been launched, where Rev.Spyridon, associated with the party, played a key role. He is a high-ranking clergyman and a member of the Synod, which is a congregation of the high-ranking clergy.

Protests against the construction of the Namakhvani HPP intensified after Enka began preparatory work for the construction of a large-scale hydroelectric power plant in the Rioni Valley. For a year and a half, activists have been protesting against the terms of the contract, demanding that construction be halted, research results made public, permits revoked and an investigation into seismic risks be conducted. A large protest moved from the Rioni Valley to Tbilisi on 23 May. The ‘Georgian Idea’ party leaders joined the protest. Although, one of the leader of the party Mr. Aleksandre Palavandishvili, together with other activists, attacked civil activist and demanded the removal of LGBT armband. Civil activist with the armband has later been expelled from protest by ‘Georgian Idea’ activists.

The campaign to discredit activists of the Namakhvan HPP began after a verbal confrontation between Palavandishvili and Maka Suladze, the latter is one of the leaders of the protests at the Namakhvan HPP. During the confrontation, Maka Suladze urged them to stop dividing protesters according to LGBT symbols. After the confrontation, the pages of the "Georgian Idea" stopped publishing political posts for two days.

A short silence was broken by the video of the Reverend Spiridon, published on page run by Rati Kavelashvili - ‘My Lord, your are above us all’.  In the video, the Reverend Spiridon calls for the "Defenders of the Rioni Valley" to repent the "sins of Sodom and Gomorrah." The video was sponsored on the page. By June 7, the video has 53,000 views and up to 6,000 reactions. Within 3 minutes after publishing, the video was shared by three anonymous pages. The post was also shared in the group ‘My Lord, your are above us all’.  and personal profiles of ‘Georgian Idea’ leaders.

Campaign launched on behalf of the Reverend Spiridon, is not accidental - it was probably planned and organized in advance. The status of the clergy is authoritative for the religious part of society, and the messages spread by them are very effective in influencing public opinion.

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Coordinated distribution of Reverend Spiridon sponsored video, discrediting ‘Rioni Valley Defenders’ in favor of ‘Georgian Idea’

Source: Screenshots of facebook pages related to “Georgian Idea” network
Pages: My lord, you are above us all; The Society for the Protection of Children's Rights; Political footprint; Liberalism Kills; Ramin Abesadze;

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The discrediting campaign against the opponents of Namakhvani HPP was not limited to this. According to the Facebook Ad Library, Guram Palavandishvili's NGO – ‘Society for Children's Rights Protection’, spent between $ 400 and $ 500 to advertise two defamatory posts against the Keepers of the Rioni Valley. The potential audience for these two ads is over 2 million Facebook users. “In order to win the hearts of liberals and LGBT activists, the protest of the Rioni Valley Keepers disentangled itself from the cross,” we read in Guram and Alexander Palavandishvilis’ statement. Sponsoring of these statements costed $ 300 to $ 399 and were declared by the name of Levan Chkhaidze.

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Sponsored posts by ‘Society for Children's Rights Protection’, targeting to discredit ‘Rioni Valley Defenders’

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Other campaigns sponsored by ‘The Society for Children's Rights Protection’ include Guram Kartvelishvili's defamatory post with an advertising budget of $ 100, a supporting campaign for far-conservative national media outlet “Alt Info” with a budget of $ 500-600, and campaigns to support the Reverend Spiridon and Ninotsminda Boarding School with a budget of $600.

 

Conclusion

The coordinated campaign of the „Georgian Idea“ on Facebook acts disguised as religious values ​​and is run by anonymous pages, resulting in the provocation of aggression and public controversy. Facebook policy prohibits unauthorized coordinated behavior on the platform. The shared content narrative itself may not violate social network’s policies, but covert actions are enough to misleading people. Hate speech, incitement to aggression, the spread of conspiracies and the anonymous campaign waged by “Georgian Idea” is damageable to fair, equal electoral environment and the development of pluralistic democracy and a tolerant society.

 

 

 

Social Media Monitoring Program of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy is made possible by the support from the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and within the ACCESS project of the East West Management Institute (EWMI). Views expressed in this article are solely those of ISFED and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the donor.