Georgia’s Parliament is introducing stricter media accreditation rules, with Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili announcing that both journalists and media outlets could face accreditation suspensions of up to one year for repeated violations.
According to Papuashvili, the changes are aimed at bringing the Georgian Parliament’s accreditation system closer to the standards applied by the European Parliament. Under the current rules, a journalist’s accreditation can be suspended for one month for a first violation and six months for a repeated offense.
Under the new framework, the initial penalty will remain a one-month suspension, while repeat violations could result in accreditation being suspended for up to one year. Papuashvili said the amendment was inspired by the European Parliament’s accreditation procedures, which also allow longer suspensions.
Another key change is that sanctions will no longer apply only to individual journalists. Depending on the severity and frequency of violations, entire media organizations may have their parliamentary accreditation revoked for up to one year. Papuashvili said this approach is also based on practices used by the European Parliament.
