DISINFO: Georgia protests are a planned CIA operation according to Maidan scenario
SUMMARY
All those people who write on "Twitter" [currently X] and various social networks that these are only peaceful demonstrations - no, they are not. This is the plan of the American Central Intelligence Agency, which has been planned for a long time. Through USAID and the European Union, they are using soft power in third countries to translate all this into violent protests. This is exactly the Maidan scenario.
RESPONSE
A pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, framing recent protests in Georgia against the Russian-style ‘Foreign Agents’ law as a CIA planned Maidan scenario. The claim is consistent with the recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative framing popular protests as Western-led colour revolutions.
Protests in Georgia are driven by a strong rejection among Georgian citizens of the controversial ‘Foreign Agents' law, which critics say mirrors a 2012 law in Russia used to crack down on dissent and suppress NGOs and media, and which could be used to restrict freedom of expression and association.
The so-called ‘Foreign Agents’ law, inspired by a similar repressive measure in Russia, that may endanger the democratic reforms Georgia needs to join the European Union, is deeply unpopular among Georgian citizens, and protests have been promoted by a coalition of Georgian opposition parties. Hundreds of thousands of people have attended the protests.
In 2023, a similar wave of protests against a previous attempt to approve the bill forced the withdrawal of the legislation, now reintroduced by the Georgian government.
This claim is an attempt to discredit protesters and justify repressive measures against them. Human rights organisation Amnesty International has accused Georgia’s police of excessive use of force against overwhelmingly peaceful protesters.
Read also EUvsDisinfo's article on “Georgia: Resilience in action”
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Anglo-Saxons incite protests in Georgia to organize a colour revolution, that Recent demonstration in Tbilisi is western-backed colour revolution, that Protests in Georgia are foreign-supported to generate anti-Russian sentiments, that Protests in Georgia organized by the US Embassy in Tbilisi, that the West is preparing Georgia for a new colour revolution, that The West aims at bringing an anti-Russian government to power in Georgia, that The West wants to initiate Euromaidan in Georgia as revenge for not joining sanctions on Russia, that US is preparing a Maidan in Georgia, or that Protests in Georgia are attempt to forcibly change power, resembling Euromaidan.