Court overturns Polish radio station’s fine for “inciting hatred” under former government

A court has overturned a fine imposed on a radio station under the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government for “inciting hatred”. One of its presenters had suggested that a controversial new school textbook was like something written for the Hitler Youth.

The court found that the decision to impose the fine on Tok FM by Maciej Świrski, who was appointed under PiS as chairman of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), was made based on “imaginary allegations”.

Tok FM, which had argued that its broadcast in fact criticised hate speech contained in the textbook rather than inciting hatred, celebrated the ruling as a victory for free speech.

The fine of 80,000 zloty (€18,765) was issued by Świrski in April last year in response to a discussion on Tok FM of a controversial textbook written for a new school subject created by the national-conservative PiS government.

One section – which was later removed – said that “with medical progress and the offensive of gender ideology, the 21st century has brought a further breakdown of the institution of the family”. It called IVF a form of “breeding” and asked rhetorically, “Who will love such children?”

During the programme, Tok FM presenter Piotr Maślak said, having read excerpts of the book published online, he “had the impression that the aim is to convince young people…to – I don’t know – exterminate non-heteronormative people because maybe they are a threat to the healthy social fabric”.

“It reads a bit like a textbook – sorry for the comparison – for the Hitlerjugend [Hitler Youth] at times, not everywhere, but at times,” he continued.

That prompted a complaint from the publisher to the KRRiT. Świrski subsequently issued the fine, saying that the broadcast had “humiliated and violated the dignity of the victims of the Second World War” and contained “discriminatory content and incitement to hatred based on political views”.

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However, Tok FM appealed against the decision and a court today ruled in its favour. Though the justification for the ruling has not yet been published, the radio station said the judge had found Świrski’s decision was at times based on “imaginary allegations”.

Tok FM’s editor-in-chief, Kamila Ceran, celebrated that “the court confirmed the validity of our arguments and dismissed the charges brought against us, [which were] created on political orders”.

“An attempt to punish Tok FM for alleged hate speech in a programme that stigmatised hate speech has reached the end it deserved,” she added. “It is sad that the National Broadcasting Council, established to defend freedom of speech in Polish media, has taken up restricting this freedom.”

At the time of publication, neither Świrski nor the KRRiT had commented on today’s court ruling, which is not yet final pending the possibility of a further appeal.

Under Świrski’s leadership, the KRRiT has been accused of disproportionately targeting media outlets critical of PiS.

Earlier this year, it fined TVN, Poland’s largest private TV station, 550,000 zloty for a “lack of objectivity and journalistic integrity” in a documentary about purported neglect by Polish Pope John Paul II in dealing with child sex abuse in the Catholic church.

In May, the US ambassador to Poland criticised the KRRiT for dragging its feet over the renewal of a broadcasting licence for one of TVN’s channels. The station is owned by American conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Last year, the KRRiT fined Radio Zet, the country’s second-largest radio station, 476,000 zloty for publishing “disinformation” that was “contrary to the Polish national interest”. However, that fine was also overturned in court this year.

Meanwhile, the new ruling coalition that took power from PiS at the end of 2023 has launched an effort to put Świrski on trial for allegedly using his office to make partial and politically motivated decisions.

Main image credit: Dawid Zuchowicz / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.