Regulation of insulting and aggressive social media content is ‘very important’, Tbilisi Mayor

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has said regulating insulting and aggressive communication on social media was “very important”, commenting on a government initiative to establish a special Interior Ministry unit to monitor hate speech in public spaces.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, Kaladze said offensive content and personal attacks online had become widespread and unacceptable.

“Unimaginable things are happening on social networks - insulting statuses and statements,” he said. “Of course, all of this should be regulated and there must be mutual respect.”

Kaladze argued that criticism and insults were fundamentally different forms of expression and said no individual had the right to systematically insult another person.

“Someone may dislike another person or criticise them, but criticism and insult are two completely different things,” he said.

The mayor also suggested that coordinated efforts were behind some of the aggressive online behaviour, though he did not elaborate further.