Poland’s parliament has passed a controversial law on television and radio broadcasting, a draft of which was submitted by the ruling national-conservative party Law and Justice (ZiS). On Friday, December 17, 228 deputies of the Seimas – the lower house of the National Assembly – voted in support of the bill, 219 were against. Now, to enter into force, the document must be signed by President Andrzej Duda. He had previously been skeptical about the document.
The initiative assumes that broadcasting licenses in Poland will be issued to foreign companies only if they have headquarters or a representative office in the European Economic Area (EEA). In addition, the licensee must not be dependent on companies headquartered outside this zone. From now on, they can own no more than 49 percent of the shares in Polish media.
The explanatory note to the bill stated that its main goal is to facilitate the control of the media owners by the National Council for Broadcasting, including “from countries that pose a significant threat to the security of the Polish state.”
Discovery-owned TVN may become major victim of change
According to a number of experts, the main victim of the changes may be TVN, a television company owned by the American Discovery concern, which ran it through the Dutch-registered company Polish Television Holding BV. The new law, inter alia, stipulates that majority ownership of media outlets located in Poland is prohibited by companies located in the EEA but controlled by firms outside it.
“The results of today’s surprise vote in the Polish parliament should alarm every company that invests in Poland, and everyone who cares about democracy and freedom of the press,” Discovery said. The experts were amazed at the speed with which the changes were made through the Diet. Parliament is undermining “the values that link Poland with Europe,” the American concern believes.
Washington hopes that President Duda will not sign the document
Washington also expressed dissatisfaction with the given decision. “The United States is extremely disappointed with today’s passage of the media bill,” US Chargé d’Affaires in Poland, Bix Aliu, tweeted. “We expect President Duda to act on earlier statements and use his leadership to defend free speech and the economy,” Aliu added. Discovery also called on Dudu to veto the bill.
ZiS already controls the Polish public television (Telewizja Polska) and most of the regional press. During the time the party was in power, Poland dropped 46 positions in the annual Press Freedom Index.
Repeated passage through the Diet
Earlier, on September 9, the controversial bill was rejected by the Polish Senate – the upper house of the National Assembly. After that, for approval, he had to re-pass through the Seim – the lower house of parliament. Prior to that, on August 11, the Seimas had already spoken out in support of the document, then 228 deputies voted for it, 216 were against, another ten abstained.
The chairman of the Polish Council of Ministers, Mateusz Morawiecki, argued that the new law is aimed primarily at preventing the acquisition of local media by companies from China, Russia and the Arab states.
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