A proposed ad tax that would be applied to internet and conventional advertising has been met with strong opposition in Poland.
In the most visible form of protest, leading commercial broadcasters Polsat, TVN and Puls, along with other media outlets, have replaced their programming this morning (Wednesday, February 10) with a dark screen and the words “Media bez wyboru”, or “Media without choice”.
Alongside this has appeared an open letter addressed to the Polish authorities and leaders of political groups criticising the “confusing called premium, introduced under the pre-text of Covid-19”.
The letter alleges that the tax will limit or even liquidate some media operating in Poland, which in turn will significantly limit society’s ability to choose the content that interests it. It adds that state media receive PLN2 billion from the pockets of Poles each year, while private media will be required to find an additional PLN1 billion as a result of this new tax.
Furthermore, “global digital giants” will only be required pay only about PLN50-100 million and other locally active media the remainder.
The signatories of the open letter include Canal+, Eleven Sports Network, Grupa ZPR, Kino Polska, Polsat, Puls, TVT, TVN and leading publishing, internet and radio companies.
