International Press Institute Calls for Reversal of TOK FM Penalty Amid “Disturbing Scheme”
The International Press Institute has called on Poland’s National Broadcasting Council to withdraw the penalty imposed on TOK FM. – The decision by the head of the KRRiT is a disproportionate and discriminatory application of the law. We view with concern the pattern in which the current chairman of the KRRiT, an ally of the Law and Justice party, is imposing unwarranted penalties on media critical of the government,” said Institute Deputy Director Scott Griffen.
Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) Maciej Swirski imposed a fine of PLN 80,000 on TOK FM radio at the end of April. As stated in the KRRiT communiqué, the issue is the broadcast of a program “promoting actions contrary to the law, views and attitudes contrary to morality and social good, and containing content inciting hatred and discriminatory content.”
The case concerns statements regarding the book “History and the Present” by Professor Wojciech Roszkowski. In a broadcast on June 7, 2022, radio journalist Piotr Maślak, speaking with a guest, a teacher of history and social studies, said, among other things, about the textbook as follows: – It reads like a textbook, sorry for the comparison, for Hitlerjugend some a little, at times, not everywhere, but at times.
The statement was preceded by quoting specific quotes from the book. The radio station reported that the excerpt from Maślak’s statement, cited in the media, was an attempt to clarify the guest’s statements about the intentions that may have guided the book’s authors.
International Press Institute calls for withdrawal of fine
The case of the penalty imposed on TOK FK was commented on by the International Press Institute. Its deputy director Scott Griffen assessed that it was “yet another example in a lengthening list of problematic decisions made by the KRRiT against journalistic content on issues sensitive to the authorities.”
The International Press Institute, it reads, “expresses concern” and argues that Swirski’s decision “constitutes a disproportionate and discriminatory application of the Broadcasting Law, which penalizes the media for exercising their right to freely express their opinions on a matter of public interest.”
The institute called for “the immediate revocation of this punishment.”
The Institute’s deputy director looks with “concern” at “a pattern in which the current chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, an ally of the Law and Justice Party, imposes unfounded penalties on media critical of the government.” – Many such investigations appear to have been launched in response to calls by Law and Justice politicians for investigations or in retaliation for showing sensitive issues, he said.
Penalty as an argument against renewing the license?
As the communiqué reads, the decision to penalize the radio station “also has consequences beyond financial costs.” – This comes as TOK FM awaits a decision on extending its ten-year broadcasting license, the Institute’s deputy director recalled.
He said that “some members of the National Broadcasting Council could use” the penalty imposed on TOK FM “to argue the non-renewal of the license.”