Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) renewed the license of the country’s main news channel on Wednesday. The permission to broadcast of TVN24, very critical of the ultraconservative government led by the Law and Justice party (PiS), expired this Sunday, September 26. The controversial law to control the media with foreign capital that the Polish Parliament approved in August hung over the chain, which belongs to the US group Discovery. The European Commission has warned this Thursday that, despite TVN24 may continue to broadcast for now, the risks to freedom of information persist in Poland.
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The decision has been expected for 19 months and has come forward with four votes in favor and one against, according to Teresa Brykczynska, a spokeswoman for the Council. The future of TVN24 is still uncertain. The Polish regulator has renewed the license but has also passed a resolution asking the Executive for clearer legislation on the issue of media ownership. He has also asked the Constitutional Court for legal clarifications.
The PiS, struggling to retain its parliamentary majority in the lower house, has long claimed that foreign media distort public debate and disregard Polish interests. Critics warn, however, that the government only seeks to control the media and restrict freedom of expression. Since the party came to power in 2015, Poland has fallen from 18th to 64th place on the World Index of Media Freedom.
A spokesman for the European Commission has considered this Thursday that the extension in extremis of the license is “a positive step”, but he added: “We are also aware of a special resolution in this context, which was adopted yesterday (by Wednesday), on the rules for the granting of licenses for television channels and radio”. “We hope that the Member States will ensure that their policies and legislation do not have any negative impact on their commitment to ensure a free, independent and diverse media ecosystem,” said the same spokesperson at the Commission’s daily press conference, in which has warned that the EU will closely follow the development of this controversy.
The upper house, controlled by the opposition, rejected in early September the law that the lower house did pass in August, but the PiS assured that before the end of this month it will be able to reverse the rejection of the Senate. The United States has shown its “deep concern” about this regulation, which from its point of view affects press freedom and the business climate for foreign investors. Washington has asked President Andrzej Duda to veto the law, according to the agency France Presse.
If the Polish Parliament tightens the legislation on property, Discovery could have to sell more than half of its companies. In addition to TVN24, it owns a dozen television channels and a video-on-demand platform. Faced with the danger that its broadcasts in Poland would be interrupted, Discovery applied for and obtained a license in the Netherlands that would have allowed it to continue broadcasting its content in Poland.
Reporters Without Borders has harshly criticized Polish legislation and called TVN a “jewel in the crown of Polish democracy”.
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