Polish Media-Tax Plan Sparks Protest and U.S., EU Criticism
- TV stations run blank screens, say move seeks to stem dissent
- Poland follows Hungary in striving for greater media control
The front page of the newspaper Wyborcza reads ‘Media without choice’ on Feb. 10, in Krakow, Poland.
Photographer: Omar Marques/Getty Images
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With blacked out or blank television screens, front pages and web portals, Poland’s private media companies protested against plans to implement a new advertising tax they say is a disguised government attempt to muffle criticism.
During the protest on Wednesday, the U.S. embassy in Warsaw tweeted that a “free media is the cornerstone of democracy.” The European Union’s executive arm scolded Poland and Hungary -- two member nations that it has accused of undermining democratic values -- over decisions seen as infringing on media pluralism.