On April 3, 2023, Georgian-language Facebook accounts (1,2) shared a video showing an unknown woman dressed in a white dress being in a drunken state. The woman visually resembles MEP Viola von Cramon. One of the users published a 9-second version of the video, in which the woman is first seen in a sober state saying, “Hello, I’m a bride, and this is my first glass”, and in the next frame, we see the same woman already in a drunken state and hear how she is being told to say “I’m Nicole and I’m the bride.” Another Facebook account published a 4-second version of the video, where the woman is seen only in a drunken state. Both accounts claimed that the person shown in the video is MEP Viola von Cramon.
The disseminated video featuring a drunk woman is altered. The face of Viola von Cramon was added to it manually. The original, authentic video was shared on TikTok and featured not Von Cramon, but a woman named Nicola at her wedding party.
The disseminated video belongs to the TikTok account @nievejones_ and was published on June 5, 2022. The video depicts the wedding of the user’s friend named Nicole. Comparing the videos spread on Facebook and the original Tik Tok video, it becomes clear that the video was programmed, and Von Cramon’s face was added to it manually.
In the original video, we see a married couple, wedding guests and the author of the video. The video is based on the popular TikTok trend and features each participant holding a drink twice – first at the beginning of the wedding party, where they introduce themselves and say it’s their first glass, and again at the end, where they say it’s their last glass.
Apart from this video, the same Tik Tok user also shared several other videos of the mentioned wedding, in which the bride was getting ready for the wedding and how she was dancing with her husband.
Von Kramon became the centre of attention, especially after she came to the rally in support of Lazare Grigoriadis on April 1, 2023, who was arrested on the charge of throwing a “Molotov cocktail” during the priests of March 7-9. This step of the MEP was criticized by the members of the “Georgian Dream” party.
About the Sources
Facebook account “Giorgi Ibereli” has disseminated disinformation and conspiracy theories many times in the past. In 2017, the user published a fake quote of Irakli Kobakhidze both on its personal page and in several public groups.
As for the Facebook user “Georgian Georgian”[ქართველი ქართველი], it often spreads information of anti-Western and anti-opposition content, including false and misleading claims.
