Polish Parliament in sudden move approves controversial media law
The Polish Parliament approved the government’s proposed controversial new media law in an unexpected move shortly before Christmas. The government says the law will stop foreign powers from taking control over the country’s broadcasters while critics say the idea is to block the country’s biggest independent TV channel that is owned by US company Discovery’s European operations.
EU Commission has criticized the media law and so has the US government.
The law was originally passed by the parliament’s lower house but the Senate, where the opposition has the majority, blocked it. Following the rules, the media legislation was after the Senate’s rejection returned to the lower house that now has passed it.
Discovery, owner of TVN24 in a statement said:
“The outcome of today’s surprise vote in the Polish Parliament should alarm any enterprise investing in Poland and anyone who cares about democracy and freedom of the press. Through this vote, Poland undermines the values that have connected Poland with Europe, and uproots the foundation of the Polish-American relationship. We now appeal to the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, to keep his word and veto this legislation.”
The President has the option of vetoing the legislation. Duda has earlier indicated that this could be an option and after the passing of the new legislation, he did not rule out that option. He was quoted saying:
“The bill … will of course be analysed by us and the appropriate decision will be made. I have already talked about the point of view from which I will assess the bill,”
The US State Department spokesman Ned Price in a statement said:
“The United States is deeply troubled by the passage in Poland today of a law that would undermine freedom of expression, weaken media freedom, and erode foreign investors’ confidence in their property rights and the sanctity of contracts in Poland.”
EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova, in a statement said:
“Once this bill becomes a law, the Commission will not hesitate to take action in case of non-compliance with EU law”.
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