Police are seen blocking protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on April 16, 2024. Georgia's parliament has voted on the first reading to approve a proposed law that would require media and non-commercial organizations to register as being under foreign influence if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
The bill is nearly identical to a proposal that the governing party was pressured to withdraw last year after large street protests. Police in the capital, Tbilisi, used tear gas Tuesday to break up a large demonstration outside the parliament.
The only change in wording from the previous draft law says non-commercial organizations and news media that receive 20% or more of their funding from overseas would have to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power." The previous draft law said "agents of foreign influence."
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Zaza Bibilashvili with the civil society group Chavchavadze Center called the vote on the law an "existential choice."
He suggested it would create an Iron Curtain between Georgia and the EU, calling it a way to keep Georgia "in the Russian sphere of influence and away from Europe."
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/georgia-parliament-advances-controversial-russian-law-targeting-media-organizations