Polish Independent Media Suspend News Coverage as a Protest Against a Tax on Advertising

• The Polish government announced plans to tax media advertisement as a source of funds to combat the effects of the pandemic.
• In the open letter to the authorities of the Republic of Poland and leaders of political groups, representatives of 43 independent publishing groups point out that tax will weaken or eliminate some media and that it will have a negative impact on access to quality information in the country.
• The “Media Without A Choice” planned blackout of many Polish independent media, signatories of the open letter, began in the morning of February 10.

Free and independent media are, above all, a pillar of democracy as a system. They are also a driver of development and innovation for local economies, and a source of creativity and inspiration for citizens.
For these reasons, we always stand by and support the media in their quest for freedom and independence –

Bartłomiej Chmiel, COO / Yieldbird

Open Letter to the Authorities of the Republic of Poland and Leaders of Political Groups: contents

“We would like to address the announced new additional financial burden on the media operating on the Polish market, misleadingly called the “contribution”, introduced under the pretext of COVID-19 pandemic.

It is simply a tribute, hitting the Polish viewer, listener, reader and internet user, as well as Polish productions, culture, entertainment, sports and the media.

Its introduction will mean:

weakening or even closure of a part of the media operating in Poland, which will significantly limit the society’s ability to choose the content it is interested in,

limiting opportunities for financing quality and local content. Their production currently supports hundreds of thousands of employees and their families, and provides most Poles with access to information, entertainment and sporting events largely free of charge,

deepening the unequal treatment of businesses operating on the Polish media market, in a situation where the state media receive PLN 2,000,000,000 annually from the pocket of each Pole, while private media are to be charged with additional tribute of PLN 1,000,000,000,

de facto favoring of companies that do not invest in the creation of Polish, local content at the expense of businesses that invest the most in Poland. According to estimates, companies referred to by the government as “global digital giants” will pay only about PLN 50,000,000-100,000,000 for the tribute, compared to PLN 800,000,000 paid by other locally active media.

The asymmetrical and selective burden imposed on businesses is also scandalous. In addition, it is unacceptable in a state governed by the rule of law to attempt to change license conditions during their period of validity.

As the media operating in Poland for many years, we do not shirk our duties and social responsibility. Every year, we pay an increasing number of taxes, levies and fees to the state budget (CIT, VAT, emission, copyright, licenses, frequencies, booking decisions, VOD fees and so on).
We also support the weakest groups in our society with our own charitable activities. We support Poles as well as the government in the fight against the pandemic, both in terms of information and by allocating resources worth hundreds of millions of PLN for this purpose.

Therefore, we strongly oppose the use of the pandemic as a pretext to introduce yet another new, exceptionally heavy burden on the media. A burden that will be permanent and will survive the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Open letter signatories