More than 50 media in Poland protest against a new tax that "suffocates" their independence

Some first pages of Polish newspapers that read "Media without choice", this Wednesday in Warsaw.WOJTEK RADWANSKI / AFP

More than 50 media and media groups in Poland have rejected on Wednesday the introduction of an advertising tax by the authorities, which they interpret as an attack against press freedom and threatens its independence and viability.

“After destroying the rule of law, the Government aims to liquidate free public opinion in Poland.

And that means abolishing a free society and replacing it with dictatorship 'subjects' fed with official lies, ”they say in a joint statement.

The protest is directed against the bill presented at the beginning of the month with which the Government intends to raise 800 million zlotys (about 178 million euros), half of which will go to the National Health Fund.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday commenting on the project that the government has decided to act after waiting “patiently until 2020” for a European solution on the taxation of large multinationals such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.

"For this reason, following in the footsteps of France, Spain and Italy, we do not want to wait any longer, but to implement solutions that respond to a large extent to this new digital world that is emerging," justified the prime minister.

The Ministry of Finance explained that the tax initiative "provides for obtaining additional funds to prevent the long-term health, economic and social consequences of the covid-19 pandemic."

But the position of the media that have protested this Wednesday with blackouts in the broadcast, which they have replaced with slogans such as "This used to be your favorite program", or with the first pages of the newspapers in which they read "Media without choice" , is that with this initiative the Polish Government is at the same level as that of Hungary with the measures approved to the detriment of the media by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

“The advertising tax is a serious blow to free media.

Most base their existence on advertising revenue, "says the statement, adding that this way," the authorities will prevent costly investigations, hinder laborious fact-checking, and stifle criticism.

This is how Orbán got rid of free media in Hungary ”.

The tax, according to the statement, is one more step in the current government's effort to "suffocate" the media.

In an open letter added to the statement and signed by more than fifty Polish media and media groups, the signatories state: "We firmly oppose the use of the epidemic as a pretext to introduce another new, exceptionally severe media charge."

The letter adds that the tax would mean "weakening and even eliminating some media in Poland" and deepening the inequalities between private and public media, which the signatories say have strong government support.

“Many publications are on the verge of becoming unprofitable.

This additional tax could wipe out all the remaining profits, ”Marek Frackowiak, director of the Press Publishers Association, told Reuters.

Bartosz Weglarczyk, editor of the

web portal

, told Reuters that the parent company of the outlet, Ringier Axel Springer, could expect to pay an additional 10 to 20 million zlotys (between 2.2 and 4.4 million euros) an additional year. due to the new tax, according to his calculations.

For its part, the public television channel TVP Info broadcast messages such as: "Media companies do not want to share their multimillion-dollar profits with Poles" or "Companies treat Poland like a colony".

Government spokesman Piotr Muller told TVP Info that the tax could represent between 2% and 15% of advertising revenue, depending on the size of the company.

The protest comes a few days after a decision was made that affects the Polish media and has drawn criticism from professional journalists' organizations.

Last Friday, the Polish Office for Competition and Consumer Protection announced the authorization of the purchase of the Polska Press group by the oil company PKN Orlen, whose largest shareholder is the Polish State.

The official entity indicated that after analyzing the operation it considers that in practice the activities of the concentration participants do not coincide, so it will not affect competition in the market.

The purchase operation was announced on December 7 and was welcomed by the Polish Government, which identified it as a "repolonization" of the media in the country, although it received numerous criticisms from opposition parties and press organizations. .