{"id":4217,"date":"2021-08-30T03:26:59","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T03:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/meet-lex-tvn-polands-ruling-party-is-pushing-through-a-contentious-media-ownership-law-under-the-pretext-of-threats-from-third-countries.html"},"modified":"2021-08-30T03:26:59","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T03:27:05","slug":"meet-lex-tvn-polands-ruling-party-is-pushing-through-a-contentious-media-ownership-law-under-the-pretext-of-threats-from-third-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/meet-lex-tvn-polands-ruling-party-is-pushing-through-a-contentious-media-ownership-law-under-the-pretext-of-threats-from-third-countries.html","title":{"rendered":"Meet \u2018Lex TVN\u2019 Poland\u2019s ruling party is pushing through a contentious media ownership law under the pretext of threats from \u2018third countries\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
Protesters holding up posters in support of TVN. Warsaw, August 10, 2021.\u00a0Janek Skarzynski \/ AFP \/ Scanpix \/ LETA<\/figure>\n

A new media ownership bill put forward by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is stoking concerns about press freedom in Poland. The parliament\u2019s lower house, the Sejm, passed the draft law in a scandalous vote on August 11. The law aims to impose restrictions on foreign ownership of Polish broadcasters, but critics argue that it targets one media holding in particular, whose television channels have taken a critical stance towards the current government. Members of the PiS insist the bill is a necessary safeguard against \u201cthird-country attacks\u201d (apparently from the likes of Russia and China). That said, the legislation is in line with the ruling party\u2019s long-running drive to take control of the media in Poland \u2014 a policy it\u2019s pursuing at great risk. Indeed, disputes over the media ownership bill have already wreaked havoc with the ruling coalition. In a special report for Meduza, journalist Stanislav Kuvaldin explains why this contentious bill is a fraught endeavor for the Polish government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What happened?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Poland\u2019s right-wing ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), has prepared controversial amendments to the law on the National Broadcasting Council (Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji, or KRRiT), the body that regulates the country\u2019s television channels and radio stations. The KRRit is responsible for ensuring compliance with the law and, together with the government, develops state policy towards the media. It\u2019s also responsible for issuing broadcast licenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new amendments place restrictions on obtaining broadcast licenses in Poland for foreign media owners, but only under rather specific conditions. If it passes the Senate, the law will prevent foreign individuals and companies that are \u201cdependent on another individual registered outside of the European Economic Area\u201d from obtaining broadcast licenses in Poland.<\/p>\n

In other words, foreigners and foreign companies will still be able to obtain broadcast licenses in Poland, so long as they are permanently based in a country within the European Economic Area \u2014 that is, in one of the EU\u2019s 27 member states, or in Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Norway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why does Poland need this new law?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to the draft law\u2019s supplementary note, these new regulations are needed to prevent companies and governments that pose a \u201cserious threat to the national security of Poland\u201d from controlling broadcasters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The supplementary note also mentions \u201cso-called hybrid actions by third countries.\u201d By all indications, these \u201cthird countries\u201d are mainly Russia and China.<\/p>\n

In late July 2021, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki explicitly stated that under the current laws, \u201cmedia in Poland can be acquired by Russia, China, or some Arab countries.\u201d During the consideration of the bill, parliamentary deputy Marek Suski \u2014 a PiS member \u2014 said that Poland has already been subjected to \u201cattacks that can be called a hybrid war from one of our neighbors\u201d (he didn\u2019t specify which one).<\/p>\n

\"Law