After the publication of the Patriarch"s Epistle, the ruling team talked about legislative amendments. Ilia II emphasized in the epistle that the freedom of speech is often abused and "there is perverted perception of freedom of speech.
Today, the chairperson of parliament, Patriarch, agreed and said that defamation is a problem and confirmed that legislative amendments are needed and the ruling team will discuss this initiative at the spring session.The opposition had suspicion that the government was trying to tighten the law on freedom of speech and set up additional regulations after Salome Zourabichvili"s first New Year address. The President said on New Year"s Eve that it was necessary to think so that the law protected at the same time, freedom of speech and human dignity. The statement of Kobakhidze has finally convinced the opposition that the government will try to restrict the freedom of speech by amendments to the law.
The civil sector believes that the government needs to tighten the law for political goals and to crush critical opinions and prepares the grounds for making changes against critical media.