A disinformation campaign targeting Russian tourists in Georgia
A disinformation campaign targeting Russian tourists in Georgia, alleging mistreatment such as being abandoned in forests and served spoiled food, was investigated by Georgia's State Security Service, which concluded it was a coordinated sabotage effort originating from abroad, possibly with foreign backing aimed at harming Georgia's economy.
Consensus
- The State Security Service of Georgia (SGB) opened a criminal case under the charge of sabotage due to a disinformation campaign targeting Russian tourists.
- The campaign involved fake social media accounts spreading stories about Russian tourists being mistreated in Georgia, including being left in forests and having their food deliberately spoiled.
- The fake accounts were reportedly registered and managed from abroad, with some sources indicating they were based in the United States.
- The goal of the campaign was to create a false impression that Georgia is unwelcoming to Russian tourists, thereby damaging Georgia's economy and national interests.
- The SGB stated that the disinformation was coordinated and used bot accounts to amplify the content.
Points of divergence
- The authors of the fake news are acting on behalf of foreign patrons and are interested in Georgia's economic collapse. — tg_tass_agency
- The fake accounts were registered in Russia and used Georgian names written in Cyrillic, which is atypical for Georgian social media users. — tvrain
- The disinformation campaign was coordinated and picked up by a major foreign online publication with a multi-million audience. — meduza
- A separate incident involving a man attacking Russian tourists in a hotel was reported, with police blaming the victims for disrupting a wedding and spilling champagne, while the victims claimed the attack was racially motivated. — vm
Coverage (13 sources)
- Bots from the USA spread rumors about spoiled food for tourists from Russia in Georgia — Вести
- Irakli Kobakhidze called messages about Russophobia in Georgia sabotage — Коммерсантъ
- Authors of fake news about tourists from Russia carry out orders of foreign patrons and are interested in the economic collapse of Georgia... — ТАСС (Telegram)
- In Georgia, investigation launched due to social media posts about poor treatment of Russian tourists — Дождь
- Bots on social networks started writing that in Georgia people are hostile towards Russians. Local authorities started an investigation — Meduza
- Law enforcement in Georgia opened a case over false messages about Russian tourists — Вечерняя Москва
- Georgian Security Service opened a criminal case on sabotage due to posts on social network X, where stories about... — Varlamov News
- In Georgia began investigation «in connection with campaign of discrediting» due to posts about bad attitude to tourists from RF — The Insider
- Investigation launched in Georgia over social media posts about poor treatment of Russian tourists — Дождь (Telegram)
- A sabotage case has been opened in Georgia due to fake news about allegedly poor treatment of Russian tourists. The trigger for this was posts... — Baza
- In Georgia began investigation on sabotage article due to publications in social networks about poor treatment of Russian tourists... — ЭХО / Новости
- Case opened in Georgia over fake news about Russian tourists — РИАМО
- In Georgia, a case was opened due to fake news on social media about poor treatment of Russian tourists — Вести
Key entities
- Georgia
- Russia
- State Security Service
- X
- Irakli Kobakhidze
- Moscow
- Security Service
- State Security Service
- Tengiz Sharmanashvili
- USA
- Media
- Tbilisi
- TASS
- RIA Novosti
- Networks