Poland: People march outside presidential palace over media bill; What is the law about?

In Poland, people have staged demonstrations across the country with a thousands-strong rally outside the presidential palace to demand the President to veto specific legislation. The nationwide protests believe that the law would restrict the freedoms of the media in the larges member of the European Union (EU). The Guardian stated that the Bill was ‘unexpectedly’ rushed in the Polish parliament. 

It is to note that the bill would tighten the rules around foreign ownership of the media and would specifically impact the ability of news channel TVN24, which is owned by the US media company Discoevry Inc for operations. 

While the Bill is yet to be signed into law by Polish President Andrej Duda, it has already affected the relations between the NATO-member stage and the United States. The law was hurried in the parliament at a time when tensions in Eastern Europe have increased amid what some nations view as the impact of Russia’s assertiveness. The bill has also pumped the broader fears about attacks on media freedoms.

What is Poland’s media bill about?

While Washington has already blasted the same law in the blast and passing of the bill is expected to sour US-Poland relations, the bill would only allow the companies by majorly owned by entities in European Economic Area to own broadcast licenses in the country. Subsequently, US-based Discovery would be forced to sell its majority stake in TVN which is also Poland’s biggest independent broadcaster, Politico stated. Formally, TVN is owned by a Dutch-registered company that’s in turn is owned by Discovery. Politico stated in its report that both TVN and TVN24 irk the Polish government with its critical reporting. 

Why is the bill triggering protests?

Notably, the nationalist government led by Law and Justice party (Pis) has moved to put some portions of media under control. The PiS supporters of the media bill in Poland have reportedly said that the law is essential to limit the foreign influence over the media of the country. However, the only company which would be significantly impacted by the bill is US-based Discovery, which has already lammed the passing of the bill in parliament. 

The media bill was initially approved by the PiS-dominated lower house of the Polish parliament in August but it was dismissed by the Senate which is controlled by the opposition. But, it reappeared in the lower house on the last day of the legislative calendar on Friday. Earlier Duda had hinted that he would veto the new rules over media, as per the report. But, to a surprise on Friday, the PiS-backed President said he would  “analyse” the bill.