WARSAW, December 17, Reuters -- Poland passed a media bill that critics say aims to silence a news channel critical of the government on Friday, in an unexpected move that will cause concern over media freedom and possibly reopen a diplomatic dispute with the United States.
The bill was not scheduled to be voted on by lawmakers after a committee called at short notice to discuss the issue, and ended up on the agenda and was voted through in a matter of minutes. The bill will go to President Andrzej Duda for his signature.
The manner in which the vote took place was illegal and breached democratic standards, according to the opposition.
The legislation will affect the ability of news channel TVN 24, owned by U.S. media company Discovery Inc., to operate because it changes rules around foreign ownership, according to opponents.
The legislation sparked a diplomatic dispute between Poland and the United States earlier this year and was criticised by Washington and the European Union as an attempt to limit media freedom.
Poland's ruling nationalists, Law and Justice PiS, say the bill aims to stop countries like Russia or China from gaining influence over Polish media.
TVN 24's parent, TVN, is owned by Discovery Inc via a firm registered in the Netherlands in order to get around a ban on non-European firms owning more than 49% of Polish media companies. The bill passed by the parliament on Friday would prevent this workaround.
The company said it was appealing to Duda to oppose the legislation and prevent it from becoming law.
In a statement, PiS spokesman Joanna Lichocka said that the rule limiting non-European capital in the media is in line with European law and is valid in many EU countries. This rule has been in force for years in Poland - the amendment seals it up and makes it impossible to circumvent it. Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki, from the largest opposition party Civic Platform, said: We are again starting war with America. I am not sure I am counting on the president to analyse this and think about the good of the democratic fatherland.