Protests in Poland at media law seen as move to silence US-owned TV channel
- Demonstrations across country after Poland’s parliament unexpectedly approved media law change
- Critics say the proposed law is aimed at silencing the country’s main independent news channel
Poles flocked to city centres across the country on Sunday to defend a US-owned television network that is being targeted by the country’s right-wing government and to protect media freedom in a European Union nation where democratic norms are eroding.
Among the protesters were older Poles who decades ago resisted the country’s communist regime and who fear that the democracy that they helped usher in is now being lost. Many Poles believe Poland’s populist right-wing government is turning the country away from the West and adopting an authoritarian model closer to that of Turkey or Russia with attempts to exert political control over the courts and silence critical media.
Donald Tusk, the leader of the main opposition party, called on Poles to show solidarity and change their leadership.
“Let’s sweep this power away!” Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and a former EU president, told the crowd in Warsaw.
The protests were called after the parliament on Friday unexpectedly passed a bill that would force Discovery Inc to sell its controlling share of TVN, Poland’s largest television network.
The lower house of parliament had voted for it in the summer but it was vetoed by the Senate. Without any notice, the parliament suddenly brought the bill back and the lower house overrode the Senate’s veto.
The fate of the bill now lies with President Andrzej Duda. The main protest on Sunday took place in front of the presidential palace in Warsaw, with demonstrators demanding that Duda veto the bill.