An investigative article by OC Media reveals how the Georgian government is increasingly relying on AI-powered surveillance technologies to monitor and penalize peaceful protesters in Tbilisi.
Following the withdrawal of police forces from the streets, the number of surveillance cameras has grown significantly—many of them Chinese-made—now playing a central role in identifying protesters and imposing steep fines. This trend raises serious concerns about the use of facial recognition technologies and the large-scale processing of biometric data, threatening citizens’ rights to privacy, free expression, and peaceful assembly. The use of surveillance to intimidate and suppress civic activism marks a dangerous shift toward authoritarian control, undermining the foundations of a democratic society.
‘There are countries where this might not be a problem, given that they’re not on the frontline and don’t have a hostile state that is also China’s major strategic partner’, Tinatin Khidasheli, Georgia’s former Defence Minister and chairperson of Civic IDEA, which monitors growing Georgia-China relations, says in the article.
This issue has been the focus of several Civic IDEA publications as well. If you are interested in finding out more, check out our recent reports:
Report 1. 👉 EMERGING CONCERN: Chinese Surveillance Cameras in Georgia
Report 2. 👉 Georgian Dream’s Surveillance of Protesterst hrough Chinese Camera
