The Facebook page of Georgian investigative media outlet Monitor is no longer accessible after the platform reportedly removed it over alleged copyright violations, outlet says.
Journalist Mari Dudunia shared a screenshot indicating that Meta cited copyright infringement as the reason for the page’s removal. However, Dudunia told Netgazeti that the newsroom rejects the allegation and believes the complaints are fraudulent.
Dudunia claimed that the outlet was due to publish a new investigative report on alleged fraudulent call centers operating in Georgia on August 3. She said the Facebook page was taken down shortly after Monitor announced the investigation.
“We are certain this is not a genuine copyright issue,” Dudunia said, adding that the complaints appeared to originate from suspicious accounts created specifically to report the outlet’s content.
She noted that a similar incident occurred on YouTube a week earlier, when Monitor’s channel was reported from comparable email accounts. After the newsroom appealed, YouTube determined that the complaints were not authentic and restored the channel.
Dudunia said the outlet has faced a series of attacks over the past month and a half, including the blocking of a video on Facebook, restrictions on an investigation published on YouTube, and the temporary suspension of its entire YouTube channel before it was reinstated.
Monitor says it believes the latest action is part of an organized attempt to silence its investigative journalism.
“It is clear to us that this is an organized attack and an attempt to silence us,” Dudunia said. “We will do everything we can to ensure that our investigations reach as many people as possible. We directly connect these attacks with our journalistic investigations.”
