Polish deputy PM suggests withdrawing conservative TV station’s licence

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A deputy prime minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, has suggested withdrawing the broadcasting licence of a conservative TV station after one of its viewers made a death threat against the head of a charity after watching critical coverage of him.

However, the idea has sparked criticism, even from a fellow deputy prime minister. The head of the broadcasting regulator accused Gawkowski of seeking to introduce censorship.

The channel in question, Telewizja Republika, is highly critical of the government and supportive towards the conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Recently, it has broadcast claims that Poland’s biggest annual charity fundraiser, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP), was involved in wrongdoing relating to the distribution of funds it collected to support victims of major floods last September.

WOŚP’s head, Jerzy Owsiak, enjoys close relations with the current ruling coalition but is often criticised by conservatives, who have long accused him of benefiting financially from his charity and of using it to support political groups and causes he sympathises with.

Last week, Owsiak notified police of death threats made against him, which he noted had come after “incitement” by Republika and other conservative media outlets, whom he accused of promoting a “spiral of lies and hatred”.

Soon after, prosecutors revealed that a man had confessed to being responsible for one of the death threats, and had admitted that he did it after watching critical coverage of Owsiak on Republika.

Speaking about the situation to broadcaster TVN, Gawkowski, who as well as being a deputy prime minister serves as digital affairs minister, said that there can be “no tolerance for hate, no tolerance for the people who do it”.

“The consequences should also be strong, certainly in the case of TV Republika,” he continued. “Such behaviour clearly indicates that we should be talking about withdrawing the [broadcasting] licence.”

Gawkowski argued that Republika’s coverage of WOŚP met the criteria for licence revocation under article 38 of the Broadcasting Act, which allows for such measures if a station violates the terms of its licence or “threatens the interests of national culture, state security or defence or violates the norms of good manners”.

Such decisions are made by the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), a state regulator. The KRRiT is, however, currently led by Maciej Świrski, a conservative figure appointed when PiS was previously in power. He quickly condemned Gawkowski’s comments.

“Judging by his words, Minister Gawkowski did not read the law or the constitution,” said Świrski during an appearance on Republika itself. “Censorship is prohibited in Poland, and here we have a clear drive for censorship on the part of the minister.”

“Minister Gawkowski would like to deprive citizens of access to information,” continued Świrski. “This government, in the person of Minister Gawkowski, is undermining the freedom of the press, which is one of the worst things that a politician and a government can do.”

However, last week, Świrski also confirmed that the KRRiT had received over 300 complaints against Republika and said he was thus “obliged to initiate an investigation” into the station.

Gawkowski also received pushback from a fellow deputy prime minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. While Gawkowski is from The Left (Lewica), Kosiniak-Kamysz is from the centre-right Polish People’s Party (PSL). The two groups are often in disagreement, despite both sitting in the ruling coalition.

“I am in favour of freedom of speech, in favour of everyone having the right to watch this television station…the freedom to use different sources, different television stations and internet platforms,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said, quoted by Wprost weekly.

Mariusz Błaszczak, the head of PiS’s parliamentary caucus, more directly criticised Gawkowski, accusing the government of seeking to “attack institutions that are independent of them”.

However, Witold Zembaczyński, an MP from the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), Poland’s main ruling group, told Polskie Radio that Republika is responsible for “disinformation, organised hate and propaganda”. He said that the channel should be looked into from the perspective of state security.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Telewizja Republika

Alicja Ptak

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