Seen and Silenced: How Russian Surveillance Software Suppresses Georgian Civilians Rights - AlgorithmWatch
Seen and Silenced: How Russian Surveillance Software Suppresses Georgian Civilians Rights
Over the past two years, the Georgian government has built a comprehensive face recognition enforcement system, procured by a Moscow-based company with ties to the Federal Security Service (FSB). The impact on demonstrators is appalling.
Story<br>June 27, 2026<br>Auf Deutsch lesen<br>#facerecognition #surveillance
In mid-March 2025, Nino, a Georgian PR lecturer in her 40s, received a call from the court. The assistant to a judge at the Tbilisi City Court summoned her to a hearing for blocking a road in the Georgian capital city two and a half months earlier. The call took her by surprise. Nino had protested against the alleged rigging of the last elections as well as the suspension of EU integration talks. She had known for a long time that the protest site surrounding the Georgian Parliament was covered with surveillance cameras but had not considered them to be so effective at identifying her.
At the hearing a few days later, she saw footage of herself at the protest, taken by the same surveillance cameras. The video showed her attempting to cross a road while others approached her from the opposite side. Nino was accused of initiating a blockade on the road. The system had identified her through face recognition software and processed her as an unlawful protester – the fine imposed amounted to 5,000 GEL (around €1,620). The court never sent her the ticket; instead, five months later, Nino's bank accounts were frozen. She was forced to set up a crowdfunding campaign to pay off the fine. Only several weeks later, her accounts were unblocked and her payments regularized.
Much like many others in Tbilisi, Nino could not afford the risk of receiving any more fines and largely stopped protesting. Her case resonated with many other Georgians who, since 2025, have stopped attending demonstrations against the ruling "Georgian Dream" party, in power since 2012 and dominated behind the scenes by its founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire whose fortune was built in post-Soviet Russia. The recent surveillance mechanisms, involving face recognition software and an extensive network of AI-enabled cameras, achieved what physical force alone could not: the authorities finally managed to break the protest movement – through fear and pressure.
From EU candidacy to authoritarian repression
In 2023, Georgia was granted the status of EU candidate, a milestone that for many Georgians meant far more than a diplomatic formality: a path to institutional reforms, legal protection, economic integration, and a structural anchor against the influence of a powerful and hostile neighbor. Freedom of expression had been guaranteed, both in law and daily practise, for over two decades. Following the allegedly rigged parliamentary elections on 26 October 2024, many Georgians took to the streets and protested for a full 580 days in a row. The European Parliament called for a re-run of the vote. In response, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, the public face of Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream party, announced that his government was suspending the EU accession process until 2028. The halt is widely considered unconstitutional as the Georgian Constitution explicitly requires all public bodies to facilitate the accession. Moreover, 86% of Georgians supported the accession in a poll from 2023.
Unlike during the first months of protests, demonstrators were progressively stripped of their rights: while in 2023 assembly required no permit and freedom of expression was guaranteed, by 2024, covering one's face was considered an administrative offense, and the penalty for blocking a road rose from 500 to 5,000 GEL. In 2025, both acts became criminal offenses, and even gathering on a sidewalk now required state registration. In 2026, calling the government illegitimate or criticizing it online using terms deemed offensive also became a criminal act. Transparency International concluded that "the laws amended by 'Georgian Dream' have effectively abolished the freedom of assembly guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia".
Shako, a civil servant and demonstrator who opposes the state's repressive measures, comments: "They can't make the protest disappear from people – so they try to make it disappear from the streets."
Demonstrators gather to protest against the government in Tbilisi, Georgia. Image supplied by the author.
For Nino, the fine for her alleged street blockade impacted her whole life: "Now, I practically don't go outside – I only go to the marches". The demonstrations she still attends are the larger Saturday gatherings organized around a specific issue. They differ from the Rustaveli protests, named after the avenue on which people gather daily outside the Parliament building. "That penalty, after I was identified by the cameras – it was...