Conflict with Law and Justice government (2021)
Since 2020, TVN and the Polish government of the Law and Justice have had a conflict. In July 2021, a group of PiS lawmakers, submitted to parliament a draft amendment that would prevent companies from outside the European Economic Area taking control of Polish radio and television stations. This would mean Discovery, which owns TVN, might be forced to divest its ownership. TVN is known to be highly critical of Law and Justice (PiS) government.[10][11] Agreement, the PiS coalition partner, was opposed to this – they instead proposed a change that would allow companies from countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to own more than 49% of shares in Polish media companies, which means no change to American ownership of the channel.[12][13] The government denies the measure is aimed at any one broadcaster, saying it seeks to prevent potential media acquisitions by non-EU countries such as Russia, China and Arab nations.
in August 2021, the bill was passed via the Sejm on a vote of 228 to 216, with 10 abstentions, making TVN's rights expire on September 26.[14][15][16]
On August 30, 2021, the Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council sent to TV operators permission to enter the TVN24 program on the Discovery Communications Benelux B.V. license. The decision ensures the continuity of broadcasting the TVN24 program after September 26, 2021, regardless of the results of the ongoing conflict with Law and Justice government.[17]
On December 17, 2021, parliamentary committee on culture and mass media unexpectedly resumed works on the bill, informing opposition MPs less than 20 minutes before the session. After a quick vote, the act was introduced to the Sejm, where it was adopted – equally quickly. The bill must be now signed by President Andrzej Duda to become law. On this day TVN24 signal was also transmitted by main TVN channel which has much wider broadcast range, also the news ticker of the station and the tvn24.pl website colours were changed to shades of black as a representation of a dark day in Polish media freedom.[18][19] On 27 December 2021 the bill was vetoed by Polish President Andrzej Duda.[20]
