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Poland’s main private television channel, TVN, and radio stations have stopped broadcasting, and newspapers have published black front pages to protest a proposed tax on advertising in private media.
Today there is a media blackout in Poland after the main private television channel TVN and radio stations stopped broadcasting and newspapers came out with black covers in protest of a proposed tax on advertising for private media, BNR reported.
In a statement sent to AFP, TVN, owned by the US group Discovery, said that the government’s proposal was aimed at restricting pluralism and freedom of expression. On the front pages of dozens of national newspapers, including the most widely read Fakt and Gazeta Viborcha, there was a black and white message that read Media Without a Choice. The pages of various websites were also black. The radio stations stopped broadcasting and Radio Z informed its listeners that the tax would mean the liquidation of some media. “There is no free state without independent media, there is no freedom when there is no freedom of choice,” the radio announced.
The new tax will take effect at the end of this year and provides for the taxation of income from advertising on television and radio, print publications and online. State media are excluded from taxes. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the tax was part of a European effort to tax tech giants like Google and Facebook, but many independent Polish outlets said it was unfair. According to Moravetsky, this is a solidarity fee that will create better conditions for the development of free media and will help finance the health and cultural sector. The imposition of an advertising tax comes at a time when many media companies are experiencing less advertising and a loss of revenue due to the pandemic.
In the BNR program “Something else”, the journalist Boyan Stanislawski, who lives and works in Poland, commented that it is not correct to present in the public space that the measure is dictatorial, that it is already in force, and this is not true: ” only as a bill proposal. It is a contribution that affects the advertising income of media broadcasting legal entities, where the budget of the income in question exceeds one million zlotys per year, which is BGN 500,000. He clarified that the percentage of the The contribution is perhaps the most controversial of the entire bill. According to him, the claim that this tax will affect small and independent media is also unfounded: “We are talking about the big players,” the journalist stressed, adding that he agreed with the protest of some media. Boyan Stanislavski expressed his doubts that this measure has a chance of entering into force: “However, this is a poisonous panic with which Jaroslav Kaczynski feeds society from time to time … In this way, the government and the opposition psychologically abuse society, leading to competition with symbols such as freedom of expression and media pluralism. “
Poland
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