Fears for Poland’s democracy as parliament looks to ban foreign stakes in media outlets

POLAND’S parliament voted last night in favour of a bill that would force Discovery Inc, the US owner of Poland’s largest private television network, to sell its Polish holdings.

The draft legislation, widely viewed as an attack on media independence in Poland, would prevent non-european owners from having controlling stakes in Polish media companies.

In practice, it only affects TVN, which includes TVN24, an all-news station that is critical of the nationalist rightwing government and has exposed wrongdoing by Polish authorities.

The lower house of the parliament voted 228-216 to pass the legislation, with 10 abstentions. The bill must still go to the Senate, where the opposition has a slim majority. The upper house can delay the bill’s passage but the lower house can ultimately pass it. It would then go to President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the right-wing government.

Discovery appealed to the Senate and Duda to oppose the project. “Poland’s future as a democratic country and its credibility in the eyes of investors depend on this,” it said. The vote followed two days of upheaval that saw the prime minister on Tuesday fire a deputy prime minister who opposed the bill.

There was tension on the streets after the vote, with protesters gathering at parliament. Some clashed with police.

The media bill comes six years into the rule of a populist government that has long sought to nationalise media in foreign hands, arguing it is necessary for national security. Ejecting TVN’S American owner would be a huge victory for the government.

Critics of the government have long feared that Poland was following a path set by Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban has gained near-total control over the media.

TVN represents the largest ever US investment in Poland. The company was bought for $2 billion by another US company, Scripps Networks Interactive, which was later acquired by Discovery.

Yesterday, the parliament also passed a law that would prevent former Polish property owners from regaining property expropriated by the country’s communist regime.