“Media pluralism and diversity of opinion are what strong democracies welcome and not combat,” wrote Jourova on Thursday on Twitter. The draft law sends “a negative signal”. Warsaw, however, rejected US criticism of the law.
“No freedom without free media”
Sassoli described the draft as a serious threat to independent television in the country. “There can be no freedom without free media,” said the President of the EU Parliament on Twitter on Thursday.
The amendment to the Broadcasting Act stipulates that in future broadcasting licenses may only be issued to foreigners in Poland if they “have their headquarters or their place of residence in the European Economic Area”. According to critics, the law targets the private broadcaster TVN, which is part of the US group Discovery via a holding company registered in the Netherlands and reports critical of the government. The news channel TVN24 in particular takes a line critical of the government.
In the vote on the amendment to the Broadcasting Act on Wednesday evening, 228 MPs voted for and 216 against. Ten others abstained. The change in the law has to go through the Senate, the second chamber, after approval by the Sejm, the first chamber of parliament. He can still make suggestions for changes.
The USA also criticize the law
US criticism of the amendment to the broadcasting law countered Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Thursday with the demand that experts in Washington should analyze exactly what it was about. “There is no intention of specific television stations here.” Rather, it is a matter of making the regulations so seamless that companies from outside the EU cannot buy any media in Poland.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said his country was “deeply concerned” about the law. He called on the government in Warsaw to demonstrate its commitment to democratic values and freedom of the press. The USA is a NATO and close foreign policy partner of Poland and its policies critical of Russia.
“Coffin nail for freedom of the press”
The German Association of Journalists (DJV) called on the Polish Senate to prevent the law. The DJV federal chairman Frank Überall described it as the nail in the coffin for the remnants of freedom of the press and broadcasting freedom in Poland. “It has long been known that the right-wing PiS party has a problem with independent journalism,” said the union leader. “The fact that this stance should become legally binding is incompatible with the fundamental European values of freedom of the press and freedom of expression.”
The German Axel Springer publishing house, which is heavily involved in Poland, is concerned about the controversial media law and developments there. The Berlin-based company explained that it was not directly affected by the reform because it did not have any TV licenses in Poland. A company spokesman also emphasized: “We stand for freedom and freedom of the press as an important pillar of democratic societies and are therefore concerned about current developments.” Along with Germany and the USA, Poland is one of Springer’s core markets. The joint venture between the Berlin-based company and the Swiss publishing house Ringier-Verlag operates around 30 brands in Poland with around 2,000 employees, including Poland’s largest newspaper Fakt and the Internet portal Onet.
