Disinformation and hate speech on social media actively polarizes society in countries like Georgia. At the same time, freedom of expression is highly protected.
In Georgia there are no laws that regulate the activities of tech platforms.
Georgia has a declared policy of striving towards the European Union. In this regard, Georgia has implemented Western approaches in a number of directions and reflected the reservations written in the EU directives at the legislative level. Accordingly, Georgia today is, on the one hand, a well fitted country to experience a new approach to regulation at the legislative level.
The SMC is in the process of engaging with the platforms (Meta, Youtube, TikTok, Twitter) in order to establish a working relationship with them.
In particular, the SMC is approaching oversight boards and advisory councils of the platforms as well as policy teams within these companies.
In terms of popularity, Meta, Youtube, TikTok, Twitter are the most popular platforms within our region.
Georgia is the right country to run the pilot project for the SMC given its size and geopolitical situation. under constant threat of Russian disinformation, countries such as Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia need to develop relationships with Tech Platforms in order to protect social media users.
The SMC aims to become a trusted partner for social tech platforms, by providing a transparent and objective view of local context and regional data on content moderation, in compliance with international human rights law.
In Georgia there are no digital laws and adopting any type of legislation similar to Germany’s NetzDG would be very risky in terms of state censorship. Therefore, it is important to develop co-regulatory practices with the tech platforms.
The SMC has identified its key stakeholders from Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia.
The SMC has conducted a stakeholder analysis to understand the needs, interests, and concerns of each stakeholder group, and to prioritize stakeholder engagement efforts based on the level of influence and interest of each group.
The stakeholder mapping and engagement activities should be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that they remain relevant and effective, and to reflect any changes in the SMC activities and stakeholder landscape.
Up to 20 leading NGOs in Georgia, members of academia and media outlets have expressed interest in participating in the SMC in Georgia.