POLAND’S MEDIA LAUNCHES BLACKOUT TO PROTEST NEW AD TAX

Thu 11 February 2021:

Private media companies in Poland suspended their news coverage on February 10 in protest against a new tax on advertising revenue. They claim that the tax has little to do with raising revenue and is in fact part of a wider government plan to reduce the editorial independence of private media companies.

The new tax was announced by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki last week, who said that his government plans to impose a levy on advertising revenues and use the proceeds to support the national health care system, culture and free media.

The front pages of national newspapers, including the most widely read dailies Fakt and Gazeta Wyborcza, read simply: “Media Without Choice.”

A statement on Gazeta Wyborcza’s homepage said: “You should be able to see our content on this page. If the government’s plans are successful, maybe one day you will no longer see it for real”.

State-owned broadcaster TVP, which has become a mouthpiece for Poland’s populist right-wing government, did not join in the protest.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said earlier that the move is part of Europe-wide efforts to tax global tech giants like Google or Facebook but independent media say they would be hit too.

Government spokesperson Piotr Muller said the tax would only target large media companies and the rate would be between 2 and 15% of advertising revenue, depending on the company’s overall revenues and the type of advertising.

Muller said the tax would also affect public television and dismissed the protest saying that “everyone would like not to pay taxes”.

Morawiecki has called it a “solidarity fee” that will “create better conditions for the development of free media” and help fund healthcare and the culture sector.

Radio stations also suspended service, with Radio ZET informing its listeners that the tax would mean “liquidation for some media businesses.”

“There is no free country without independent media. There is no freedom without freedom of choice,” the radio station said on its website.

Expected to take effect later this year, the new tax imposes a levy on advertising revenues of television and radio broadcasters, print outlets and internet media companies.

Like many independent publishers, Fakt, one of Poland’s largest tabloids, replaced the front page of its website with the message Media Bez Wyboru (Media Without Choice), saying: “Your favourite website should be here. Today, however, you won’t read any content here. Find out what the world will be like without independent media.”

The Media Without Choice campaign has already received much international support, including from the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who tweeted: “As someone who cares deeply about Poland, I am alarmed at this latest effort by the Polish government to stifle free media. We must call this out for what it is — an attack on democracy and the rule of law.”

As someone who cares deeply about Poland, I am alarmed at this latest effort by the Polish government to stifle free media. We must call this out for what it is — an attack on democracy and the rule of law. https://t.co/zsR4qkrD8z

— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) February 9, 2021

In November 2020, the European Parliament expressed its “deeply concern” about the state of media freedom within the EU and denounced the violence, harassment and pressure faced by journalists.

In a resolution adopted on November 25, Parliament pointed to “attempts by governments of some member states to silence critical and independent media and undermine media freedom and pluralism”. MEPs are particularly concerned about the state of public service media in some EU countries, where they have become an “example of pro-government propaganda”.