Tornike ZURABASHVILI, Georgia
PROJECT: Countering the Pro-Kremlin Disinformation Campaign in Georgia

Skilled in policy analysis, media and elections, Tornike is working towards fostering democracy and electoral integrity in Georgia. In his capacity as the Chief Editor of the online media outlet Civil Georgia (civil.ge) in 2016-2019, he contributed to delivering unbiased news about Georgian politics. Currently, he is the Programme Manager at the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), a leading elections and democracy watchdog in Georgia. Previously, Tornike worked as a junior researcher for leading think tanks in the country, including the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) and Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS). In 2013-2014, he served as Georgia’s Youth Representative to the United Nations.

Tornike holds a Master’s degree from Trinity College Dublin (MSc in Politics and Public Policy) and Ilia State University (MA in Public Policy and Administration). He is in the process of completing a Ph.D. in Political Science at Tbilisi State University.

Tornike Zurabashvili: “The fellowship experience was important for my professional development on several accounts. Not only did it allow me to put the pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns in a wider, regional perspective, it also enabled me to broaden my network of contacts in the Czech Republic. Moreover, the feedback and recommendations received from highly-skilled professionals at the European Values Think Tank allowed me to sharpen the focus of my research and frame it in such a way that it is useful both academically and policy-wise.”

Countering the Pro-Kremlin Disinformation Campaign in Georgia

The project: Countering the Pro-Kremlin Disinformation Campaign in Georgia is a research carried out in cooperation with the European Values Think Tank under the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Fellowship. The project addressed the lack of information in terms of pro-kremlin propaganda in Georgia; it reviewed the efforts that government and civil society organizations have taken to challenge the hostile information activities, including those targeting the religious segments of the society. The research aimed to contribute to a better understanding of how to prevent and manage the potentially harmful impact of disinformation on countries with similar social fabric and political environments.

The project produced an academic paper on Russia’s Disinformation Activities and Counter-Measures. In his research, Tornike reviewed the main lessons learned from Georgia’s experience in tackling the pro-Kremlin disinformation, and developed a list of recommendations for improving the effectiveness of these counter-measures. The document also served as a basis for a Georgia chapter in the 2018 ranking of countermeasures by the EU and EaP countries to the Kremlin’s subversion operations. Overall, Tornike’s research contributed to the conceptual understanding of the nature and characteristics of pro-­Russian disinformation campaigns. Besides, the research was one of the very first systemic introductions of Georgia in the ongoing discourse on pro-Russian disinformation campaigns in Europe.

Fellowship Programs 2017
Country Georgia
Areas of Interest Advocacy
Awareness raising
Topics Media
Mitigating misinformation
Project duration March 2017 - April 2018