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Andrzej Duda has blocked a law proposing to ban non-European owners from having controlling stakes in Polish media companies.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has vetoed the controversial media bill, which critics believe was aimed at silencing the US channel TVN24.
Announcing his decision on Monday, Duda said the proposed legislation was unfamiliar to many Poles and would blow it away as a place to do business in Poland.
“I veto it,” Duda said in a televised statement after strong criticism of the law by the European Union and the United States.
The bill, recently pass The Polish Parliament would prevent any non-European organization from holding more than 49% of its stake in Polish television or radio stations.
Its practical effects would be directed at the only existing company, Discovery Inc, and the US owner of Poland’s largest private TVN private TV, forcing it to sell most or even all of its shares in Poland. TVN24 is an online news channel.
Many Poles saw the bill, driven by the Doubtful Law and Justice Party (PiS), as an attempt to silence a broadcaster who is an independent and often critical reporter for the authorities.
There have been mass protests across the nation recently in support of the station and freedom of expression, and Discovery has threatened to sue Poland over legislation.
The government argued that the law would protect the Polish media landscape from potential actors like Russia.
Duda said he agreed with the principle, saying that many other democratic countries – including the United States, France and Germany – have such legislation.
But he said it would not apply to existing business agreements and investment agreements, and that if it came into force it would be detrimental to a business that is already operating legally.
He also said that signing the bill would cost the nation billions of dollars, adding that he shared the opinion of many of his countrymen that it was not necessary today.
Bix Aliu, a U.S. Warsaw official, had earlier called on Duda to veto the law, saying Washington was “very disappointed” with the law.
“We expect President Duda to act in accordance with previous statements to use his leadership to protect freedom of expression and business,” Aliu said.
Christian Wigand, a spokesman for the European Commission, also criticized the proposed law, saying it would “seriously jeopardize the freedom and pluralism of the Polish media,” the Discovery said. ”.
PiS already controls TVP public television, which has become a government spokesperson, and a large section of the regional press.
Since the party was elected to power in 2015, Poland has dropped 46 places in the World Press Freedom Reporters Without Borders Index, and has dropped to 64th place.
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