During a protest rally against the "Foreign Agents Law" on April 16-17 near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, multiple journalists reported aggressive encounters with the police. Journalists from online media outlets, including Publika, Tabula, and April, experienced chases and assaults by police officers. Aleksandre Keshelashvili, from Publika, was assaulted while filming a police arrest, resulting in his phone being seized, though it was later returned.

Similarly, Giorgi Badridze of Tabula was attacked by riot police who also took his phone as he recorded the rally. He continued his reporting using his office phone, which police also attempted to confiscate but eventually returned. Another journalist, Giorgi Baskhajauri, from the queer-themed online media April, faced both physical and verbal attacks, including a homophobic slur, while covering the event.

Following a parliamentary session on April 16, where the controversial law was discussed, police used pepper spray to disperse protesters who had gathered near the Parliament. This intervention resulted in the detention of at least eleven individuals.

Simultaneously, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, criticized the re-introduction of the "Foreign Agents Law" by the Georgian Dream party, stating it contradicts Georgia’s ambitions to join the European Union. He highlighted that the law could distance Georgia further from the EU, a statement he reinforced via a tweet on the same day: 

“The Georgian people have chosen the European path, and in response, the European Council granted Georgia the candidate status last December. Let me be clear: the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence is not consistent with Georgia's EU aspiration and its accession trajectory and will bring Georgia further away from the EU and not closer."

As reported by the Georgian President's administration, Salome Zourabichvili appealed to Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the events in Georgia at the European Council meeting.

Zourabichvili further commented on the events in Tbilisi: “Second night of massive protest in Tbilisi against the Russian Law. Insistance of the authorities to push through this law against the will of the population and despite partners' protest is a direct provocation - a Russian strategy of destabilization."

The US State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, at a briefing in response to a question regarding the "transparency of foreign influence" bill, argued that the US remains deeply concerned about this bill and that Washington does not announce in advance about possible sanctions or measures that the country may introduce.

Member of European Parliament Anna Fotyga said that the Georgians are well aware that the threat to their country does not come from the West but from other directions and that it is understandable why so many people are against the "foreign agents" bill, which is not intended to counter the growing Russian influence in the country.