‘We will continue to fight’: US media owners start legal action against Poland over ‘discriminatory steps’

In an interview with The Independent, US media owner, J.B.Perrette, warns Poland is ‘approaching an autocratic state’, writes William Nattrass

Protesters show the victory sign as they hold up placards with the letters of Poland's main private TV network TVN, a US-owned broadcaster, as they demonstrate in defence of media freedom in Warsaw (AFP via Getty Images)

Poland’s proposed media law banning majority ownership of broadcasters by non-European entities has caused astonishment by placing American investors in the crosshairs.

TVN, the country’s largest independent television station and the biggest TV news provider in Poland, is threatened with cancellation as a result of a law which many see as an attempt to root out opposition to the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) regime.

Discovery Inc., the American media company which owns a majority stake in TVN, has now launched legal proceedings against Poland in the aftermath of the media law’s successful passage through parliament, arguing “discriminatory” steps to force out the broadcaster violate the terms of an investment treaty between the US and Poland.