US-owned news television TVN24 was hit hard by the decision, with the channel categorizing the new regulations as an unprecedented attack on free media.

On Friday, Poland’s lower house of parliament finally adopted an amendment to the law on operating licenses for foreign-owned media, an amendment that the opposition-majority Senate rejected in early September.

In the 460-seat House of Representatives, 229 deputies voted against the Senate’s decision to reject the new regulation, while 212 voted in favor of the opposition, and 11 abstained.

According to the amendment to the law voted by the head of state in the next step, foreign companies can obtain a license to provide media services in Poland only if the share of legal entities outside the European Economic Area (EEA) does not exceed 49 percent.

This solution was interpreted by many during parliamentary action in September as a move against the opposition-leaning US-owned Polish news television TVN24. The channel is already owned by the American company Discovery, despite the fact that the newscast is officially controlled by a company called Polish Television Holding BV, which is registered in the Netherlands at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, which is a virtual address.

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However, TVN24’s operating license was extended by the relevant Polish body before it expired on September 22.

According to an article published on Wednesday in the wirtualnemedia.pl portal, the amendment to the law now being voted on could jeopardize the operation of other Discovery channels in Poland in the future.

A statement posted on the TVN24 website after Friday’s vote, recorded by TVN Discovery Group, called the new regulations an “unprecedented attack on a free media.” “The legislation is directed against Poland’s largest and most important ally, where Polish security and the Polish economy largely depend on the United States,” the document said, and according to the document, Discovery will muster all legal means “to its mission in Poland.”

The signatories to the statement expressed their hope that the Polish head of state would veto the law. And Andrei Duda did not rule out this possibility before. It is clear that American pressure on him had a role in this. A presidential veto can only be overturned by a 60 percent majority, which the government cannot achieve.

As hvg.hu wrote earlier, the Polish parliament wants to silence the US-owned TVN24 news channel, which it considers one-sided and biased, but is watched and appreciated by the majority of viewers because it does not broadcast. Government propaganda in principle public service channels.




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