Hollywood Reporter: “Poland’s right-wing government won a narrow vote Wednesday to pass a controversial media ownership bill that, if it becomes law, could force Discovery channel to sell its Polish operation, TVN, which owns TVN24, the country’s largest independent news network. Wednesday’s vote came after nationwide protests by free speech and human rights activists against the bill, which would strengthen a ban on non-European companies controlling Polish broadcasters. Discovery’s TVN would be the broadcaster most affected by the bill. TVN operates several channels in Poland including the popular all-news network TVN24, which has been more critical of the government than most of the local media. The American company Discovery Inc. controls TVN through a subsidiary registered in the Netherlands.”

“The bill passed the lower house on Wednesday on a vote of 228 to 216, with 10 abstentions. To become law, it still has to be passed by the Senate, which is controlled by the opposition. If they reject it, as is expected, the bill will go back to the lower house where it will need an absolute majority to pass and be signed by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda. The Polish government argues that the bill is designed to prevent countries like Russia and China from taking over local media but the opposition and critics say that it is clearly aimed a bringing TVN under the control of pro-government Polish owners. Viktor Orban’s right-wing government in Hungary pushed through a similar foreign ownership ban that many claim helped it consolidate its control over the media.”