Memory and Disinformation Studies

The Anti-Vaccination Movement and Russian Propaganda

In the times when the world is fighting against the Coronavirus pandemic and looks forward to creating vaccine, the increase of public trust toward the vaccination has a paramount importance. Throughout the centuries, the vaccination has helped the mankind produce immunity against such diseases as measles, rubella, mumps, tuberculosis, tetanus, etc. However, since the day of the invention of vaccine, there have been some people who have been opposing the fighting against diseases through this method due the different reasons. 

The Overview of the Censorship of the Georgian Press and Print Media

The fight against censorship and for the freedom of speech counts centuries. One of the most ancient cases of censorship is related to the philosopher, Socrates who was sentenced to death in 333 BC for spreading the ideas among the youth that opposed his contemporary moral and political code. 

Russian Propaganda and COVID-19 – Should Georgia Expand Trade Relations with Russia?

The Statistics of Social Assistance for the Victims of Political Repressions

On 24 April 2020, IDFI published the article “The Mechanisms for Restoring the Rights of the Victims of Political Repression in Georgia and Their Assessment”. It is emphasized in the article that the amount of subsidy for the social support and daily living needs of the victims of political repression is not enough for satisfying the minimal daily needs.

IDFI became member of the international platform – the Sites of Conscience

Founded in 1999, the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (“the Coalition”) is the only worldwide network of Sites of Conscience. With over 275 members in 65 countries. The coalition builds the capacity of these vital institutions through grants, networking, training, transitional justice mechanisms and advocacy.

Victims of Soviet Repressions in Georgia – Legal Remedies and Their Assessment

To date, modern societies fully recognize the events of mass human rights violations at the territory of the former USSR. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the states took the responsibility to restore the violated rights of their citizens and ensure their legal rehabilitation. Georgia is among these states.

Openness of State Archives and Memory Studies - Conference Theses

On 5-6 December 2019, with the financial support of the Open Society Institute – Budapest Foundation, the Institute for Development of Freedom of information (IDFI) held a conference on the Openness of State Archives and Memory Studies in the Former Soviet and Eastern Bloc Countries in Tbilisi. Up to 30 researchers, historians, and the representatives of civil society from all over the world participated in the conference.

Tbilisi Events of 14 April 1978 and the Excerpts from the Western Press

On 14 April, a large demonstration was held in Tbilisi. The citizens of Soviet Georgia protested an attempt of the Communist party to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language. 

A Year after the Discovery of the Mass Graves of the Victims of the Soviet Repressions

A year has passed since the Batumi and Lazeti Diocese discovered a burial site of around 150 persons in Khelvachauri, near the city of Batumi.

The First Mass Grave of the Individuals shot during the Great Terror in Georgia

Great Terror, Red Terror, Great Cleansing, Stalinist Repressions - these are the names used by the historians for describing the events taking place in the Soviet Union in 1934-1954 and culminated in 1937-1938.