The incumbent Georgian Dream (GD) party has accused the country’s two largest opposition-leaning broadcasters – Formula and TV Pirveli – of using anti-government terminology in their coverage, local outlets reported on June 3.

GD filed complaints against the two channels with the national Communications Commission, which, under recent amendments the ruling party made to the country’s Law on Broadcasting, was handed sole responsibility for the regulation of broadcasters’ content, sparking alarm amongst independent media organisations of impending censorship.

The ruling party’s lawsuit presented excerpts from Formula and TV Pirveli’s news broadcasts and social media posts which include a number of terms which GD claims violate “certain legal norms” on broadcasting.

This disputed language includes phrases which question the legitimacy of the one-party GD parliament, for example “illegitimate parliament”/ “government”, “so-called chair of the parliament” and “de-facto member of parliament”.

Further, GD highlighted the broadcasters’ use of the terms “regime” and “pro-Russian regime” to describe the incumbent GD government, “oligarch” to refer to the party’s honorary chair and founder, the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, and “regime’s prime minister” in reference to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

The complaint declares such language to reflect “personal assessments and accusations” by the two opposition channels, which are “not separated from facts”.

The document filed to the Communications Commission further reminded the broadcasters that they should “ensure respect for fairness and the principle of impartiality when reporting news”.

The commission will review the ruling party’s complaint on June 5.

Should it establish that the channels have indeed violated the law, sanctions will likely be imposed sanctions on Formula and TV Pirveli. These could range from written warnings, to heavy fines, to broadcast restrictions and, in extreme cases, suspension of licenses.

According to TV Pirveli’s lawyer, Tornike Migineishvili, the ruling party’s lawsuit “marks the beginning of yet another wave of repression against critical media”.

“The TV channels face the threat of multiple fines and financial sanctions, creating a real risk of their broadcasting being suspended,” the lawyer noted, as cited by JamNews.

A joint statement issued by representatives of Georgia’s civil and media sectors expressed “strong concern” over the lawsuit filed by GD against the two critical broadcasters.

“The content of these complaints represents a direct attempt to impose censorship… intimidate critical media and suppress independent journalism,” the statement declared, as reported by InterpressNews.