Critical TV channel Formula TV could face another fine or even the suspension of its broadcasting licence for using terms such as “Dream’ government” and similar expressions.
Georgia’s Communications Commission is set to consider the case on 17 July.
This will be the third time in the past four months that the Commission has reviewed alleged violations by TV Formula based on its routine media monitoring, accusing the broadcaster of breaching the content regulation provisions of Georgia’s Law on Broadcasting.
According to Formula, the Commission’s Media Services Regulation Department selectively monitored the channel’s news programmes aired between 15 and 17 June and concluded that the broadcaster had violated Article 54(5) of the Law on Broadcasting, which requires fairness and impartiality.
In its report, the department argued that the channel’s news coverage reflected the broadcaster’s own opinions or attitudes toward the issues being reported. As evidence, it cited Formula’s repeated use of phrases such as “Dream’s government,” “Georgian Dream’s president,” “Dream’s prosecutor’s office,” “Dream’s prime minister,” “Dream’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” “repressive laws,” and “repression by the Dream regime.”
According to the Commission, these expressions constitute “the broadcaster’s opinion and personal attitude toward the activities of state bodies and institutions,” Formula said in a statement.
Why Could Formula’s Licence Be Suspended?
In April, the Communications Commission issued written warnings to Formula, Imedi TV, POSTV, and TV Pirveli, finding them in breach of Georgia’s Law on Broadcasting.
The regulator said that its monitoring of broadcasts during February and March had identified 20 violations, most of which concerned alleged breaches of the principle of impartiality. Specifically, it claimed that journalists and presenters had reported on current political and social issues while expressing personal opinions or attitudes.
The Commission also alleged violations of the requirement to present balanced coverage, saying that in some cases only one side of an issue had been represented.
In May, the Communications Commission fined Formula 2,500 GEL for violating the same law. The regulator again argued that the channel’s journalists and presenters had covered current political and social issues “on the basis of their personal opinions.”
Since Formula was already fined for violating the Law on Broadcasting two months ago, the next sanction could be the suspension of its broadcasting licence.
This possibility is provided for under Article 72(2) of the Law on Broadcasting, which states that if, after being fined, a media service provider continues an ongoing violation or commits another one-off violation within one year, the Commission may either impose a fine of up to 1% of the broadcaster’s annual revenue, but no less than 5,000 GEL, or initiate public administrative proceedings to suspend the broadcaster’s licence or authorisation.
The amendments to Georgia’s Law on Broadcasting entered into force on 1 April 2025.
Until 1 June 2025, although the Commission could examine alleged violations by broadcasters, it did not apply the sanctions introduced by the amendments.
Numerous respected international organisations have criticised the 2025 amendments to the Law on Broadcasting and have called on the Georgian authorities to revise or repeal them.
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