This article was originally published on Algorithm Watch on June 27, 2026. This edited version is republished on Global Voices under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). 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), and its impact on demonstrators is troubling. In mid-March 2025, Nino, a Georgian in her 40s, received a call from the Tbilisi City Court, which 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, Nino saw footage of herself at the protest; she was accused of initiating a blockade of the road. The system had identified her through face recognition software and processed her as an unlawful protester — the imposed fine amounted to GEL 5,000 (around EUR 1,620 or USD 1,878). Five months later, Nino’s bank accounts were frozen. She was forced to set up a crowdfunding campaign to pay off the fine. 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