DW’s Freedom of Speech Award is awarded for 2025 to Tamar Kinjurasvili from Georgia, which is bravely against misinformation – and is getting increasing pressures for it.

When Georgia declared its independence in 1991, it was clear to Tamar Kintzurarasvili that she would actively support democracy in the future. “Under the auspices of the Soviet Union, we had no right to speak and we were dependent on a totalitarian system,” he tells DW. “But in a democratic state, all citizens must control the government to safeguard our freedom. The media is particularly responsible for ensuring the distinction of powers. “

Kintzurarasville was working as a journalist. Today she is an executive director of the Non -Governmental Information Foundation in Tbilisi, which supports human rights and freedoms. There he delivers workshops for the control of events and the fight against rhetorical hatred. But work is getting more difficult – in ever more oppressive agriculture. For her commitment, DW honors the 55 -year -old with this year’s freedom of speech award.

DW has been awarding the award to journalists and human rights activists from 2015 to draw attention to limited freedom of the press and the worrying state of human rights in many parts of the world.

DW General Manager Peter Liburg said that Kintzurarasville received the award for her decisive commitment to combating misinformation in Georgia. “Her efforts against domestic and international propaganda are essential for freedom of press and expression, as well as for confidence in the free media,” Liburg said. “The country is currently at a crossroads: a parliament without an active opposition, a frozen EU integration process and new authoritarian laws for SMEs similar to those we already know from Russia.”

Pressure rises

In fact, Kintzurarasville now feels in agriculture more threatened than ever. “The government is trying to invent something new every day to prevent us from doing our job,” he says. Last year, the ruling Georgian Dream Party, which has been in power since 2012, has voted for the so -called foreign influence law: the media and NGOs (NGOs) receiving at least 20% of their funding from abroad must formally register. If they do not do so, they face a fine and, after changing the law, even imprisonment. The Kintzurarasville Foundation is funded entirely from abroad. Nevertheless, he refuses to register.

Thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the law. The government’s decision last November to suspend the EU integration process further fueled protests. Just a year earlier, the country was appointed candidate for accession. To date, regular demonstrations are held against the government’s authoritarian policies.

In recent months, it has, among other things, limited freedom of expression and concentration. A recently voted law requires foreign funds to be approved by the government in the future. Immediate pressure on cinjurasville is also increasing. Masters repeatedly violated the entrance of her offices and offended Kintzurarasville and her colleagues as “pseudo -liberal fascists”.

“They also called us a phone call and offended us, even in the night. They phoned my family, my husband and my daughter, “says Kintzurarasville. Her club, along with other NGOs, has appealed against the law on foreign agents to the European Court of Human Rights.

By a journalist to auditors of events

The journalist, who was born in 1970 in a middle -class family in Tsaltoumbo, western Georgia, has experienced troubled moments. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a civil war broke out in Georgia. The areas of Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia are self -proclaimed independent democracies. Russia was one of the few countries that recognized this independence in 2008 and placed thousands of troops there. At the time of change, Kintzurarasville was studying journalism at the State University in the capital Tbilisi. Since 1994 he worked as a reporter in the first independent newspaper in the country, “Droni”. He is interviewing personalities such as Edward Sevardz, president of Georgia from 1995 to 2003 and former Soviet Union Foreign Minister.

Kintzurarasville later became the head of the political department and Doni’s deputy chief editor. As part of a scholarship program, he did internship in Western media, including the Reuters news agency in London and the Desert News newspaper in Salt Lake City, USA. He later became General Manager of the State Broadcasting GPB.

But since 2014, Kintzurarasville has been devoted entirely to the fight for reliable information and freedom of the press. “At first, verification of events was not necessary – after all, the media did their job,” he says. “But with new technologies, every citizen can disseminate information – therefore, each of us must know how to distinguish events from false news. Information control is power and, at present. Strong institutions, governments, authoritarian leaders and companies are trying to manipulate public opinion. “

More than 300 people have already participated in the laboratories on press freedom, the fight against misinformation and hate speech – also in the context of the “Myth Detector Labs” founded in 2017 in collaboration with DW Academy. Kintzurarasville is also a lecturer of the media ethics and propaganda methods at Ilia University in Tbilisi.

DW Award gives courage

International support is more important than ever. Kintzurarasville is currently participating in a six -month scholarship program in France, where he regularly meets human rights activists from around the world. The DW Award also gives her strength. As he characteristically says: “It gives us the feeling that we are not alone in the struggle against this oppressive government. And it sends a message that our work is important – for our country, for a better, democratic agriculture. “

Curated by: Costas Argyros