Status: 11.08.2021 9:54 p.m.
So now after all: After the hanging game in the Polish parliament, the Sejm MPs passed the controversial media law that evening. It is now getting tight for a station critical of the government.
The Polish parliament passed the new media law late. In future, broadcasting licenses will only be issued to foreigners if they “have their headquarters or their place of residence in the European Economic Area”. In addition, the condition applies that the licensee must not be dependent on someone who has headquarters or residence outside of this economic area.
The law is generally seen as an attempt to silence the independent and government-critical broadcasting network TVN. If the law comes into force, the US company Discovery will have to sell its majority stake in the network. TVN has numerous channels. The news channel TVN24 in particular takes a line that is critical of the PiS.
Critics see the new law as a violation of the principle of freedom of the media. According to the opposition, the law threatens the freedom of the press and could affect relations with the United States.
Tug of war for the vote
Before that, the vote had kept parliament in suspense for hours: first of all, the decision had been postponed to September. After the President of Parliament had declared this postponement to be invalid due to a missing date, the vote was taken in the evening. Previously, the dispute over the proposed law had led to a government crisis.
On Tuesday, people protested against the law in numerous Polish cities, and speakers expressed fear of censorship.
The PiS party has long tried to nationalize the media and invokes national security. She points to the danger that powers like Russia and China could influence the public debate in Poland.