Poland’s government, which is led by the national populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, apparently wants to oust the independent television broadcaster TVN24 or bring it under control through a Polish majority owner. TVN24 belongs to the US media group Discovery, PiS MPs have now submitted a draft law according to which Poland’s broadcasting authority may only grant broadcasting licenses to broadcasters that are majority owned by Polish owners or owners from the European Economic Area. If the draft becomes law, TVN24 has six months to sell the controlling majority – presumably to a state company like the oil company Orlen.
The government justifies the planned law with the alleged need to prevent the purchase of Polish media by states such as Russia, China or Arab countries. Polish experts and TVN24, however, agree that the real aim of the bill is to take control of TVN24.
Since the PiS brought public television TVP and public radio under control at the beginning of 2016 and converted them into propaganda instruments, TVN24 has been Poland’s only independent television broadcaster with a wide range of news, critical reporting and space for opposition politicians. PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński blamed TVN24 for an election defeat in 2007. In 2017, PiS Discovery is said to have offered to buy TVN24. The Americans refused. Thereafter, a law was discussed in the PiS that would limit foreign participation in Polish media companies to a maximum of 20 percent. After warnings from the US government under President Trump, the PiS initially failed to take action against TVN24. This consideration has apparently no longer played a role since the election of Joe Biden as US president and a cooling of relations.