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“In Poland, the party decides what I am allowed to watch”

Katowice,,Silesia,,Poland,10,August,2021,Protests,In,Defense,Of

Protests against the ”Lex TVN” act. 10 August 2021, Katowice, Poland. Source: TomaszKudala / Shutterstock.com

In August 2021, Poland enacted a controversial media law. This so-called “Lex TVN” — which targets one specific private TV channel — is one more blow in the ruling party’s assault on the free press.

Wojciech Cieśla

26.08.2021

European union flag against parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Source: artjazz / Shutterstock.com

For two years Political Capital, a Hungarian think tank, conducted with partners a research project on authoritarian influence in the European Union, and particularly in the European Parliament.

VSquare

01.09.2021

Photo from Two Tailed Dog project by Michał Adamski

An interview with Michał Adamski, the author of the book The Two Tailed Dog, a photographic story about a country grappling with tensions and the rule of Viktor Orban.

VSquare

27.08.2021

Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera addresses supporters at a political rally in Bangui

Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera addresses supporters at a political rally as Russian mercenaries, and Rwandan UN peacekeepers stand guard at the stadium in Bangui, Central African Republic, December 19, 2020. Source: STRINGER / Reuters / Forum

An organisation with links to Russian influence operations organised a trip featuring Hungarian Jobbik politicians and Polish journalists, among others.

Patryk Szczepaniak

Mateusz Bajek

04.08.2021

A demonstrator wears a face mask during a protest for media freedom after the editor-in-chief of Index, Hungary's leading independent news website was fired, in Budapest, Hungary, July 24, 2020.Source: Bernadett Szabo / Reuters / Forum

One year after the pro-governmental takeover of the top Hungarian news site, Index.hu, its former staff members are thriving.

VSquare

23.07.2021

Warsaw,,Poland,-,July,10,,2021:,View,On,Tvn,And

View on TVN and Discovery television headquarters at Warsaw, Poland, July 10, 2021. Source: Autor: MOZCO Mateusz Szymanski / Shutterstock.com

If the government puts a gag order on a broadcaster simply because it finds its reporting unfavourable, the same fate will await the rest of the free media in Poland.

VSquare

29.07.2021

Szabolcs Panyi, Hungarian journalist from the opposition website Direkt36. Source: András Pethő/Direkt36

Orban put me at the same level as a dangerous criminal – says Panyi, a surveilled Hungarian journalist and a member of the international team revealing Pegasus Project.