Vice PM Mdinaradze defends anti-hate speech unit, says abuse was 'normalised' for years

Georgian Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies Mamuka Mdinaradze has defended the Interior Ministry's newly established unit tasked with tackling hate speech and public insults, arguing it was created in response to years of what he described as the normalisation of abusive language in public discourse.

Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday, Mdinaradze said the Government had faced an organised campaign by certain media outlets, opposition parties and their supporters over the creation of the unit.

"More specifically, the criticism concerns the newly established division whose purpose is to combat hate speech and insults in the public sphere," he said.

According to Mdinaradze, the number of cases involving insults, abusive language and bullying in public spaces, including on social media, has fallen significantly since the unit began operating.

"Even basic monitoring shows that incidents of swearing, insults and bullying in public spaces, including on social media, have decreased significantly, which indicates that the Interior Ministry's preventive measures are working effectively," he said.

Responding to criticism from opposition groups and media organisations, Mdinaradze said their main argument was that those targeted by offensive remarks often did not file complaints and that such speech fell within the bounds of freedom of expression.

He rejected that position, arguing the need for preventive measures arose because abusive language had been normalised over many years.

"The need to eliminate insults and hate speech from the public sphere arose because these same people spent years making insults and bullying the norm. They turned swearing on television and in other media into an ordinary occurrence, which ultimately led to extreme polarisation in society," Mdinaradze said.

He further alleged that the criticism of the Interior Ministry's actions was politically motivated and claimed opponents viewed the preventive measures as unacceptable.