Tens of thousands attended anti-government protests held across Czechia on October 24 after Prime Minister Andrej Babiš' government unexpectedly pushed ahead with a vote to curtail public media financing by scrapping license fees.
The government-backed bill aims to replace license fees with a direct state budget, and has been a source of controversy since first tabled earlier this year, not least because it involves trimming the budget of Czech Television (CT) and Czech Radio (CRo).
A number of protests were held already against the changes to public media financing including including the mass rally on March 21 when around 200,000-250,000 Czechs rallied at the Letná plateau in Prague against the policies of the populist Babiš-led cabinet and his Ano party, which they fear threaten democratic standards in the country.
“We won’t give up the media” and “Media should not belong to politicians” read the banners carried by the protesters on October 24 in Brno, where about 4,000 protesters gathered. The rally was organised by the Million Moments for Democracy platform, which was behind the 2018-2019 mass protests against the previous cabinet led by Babiš.
“It is not just a technicality. It is about having media which would report freely, control those in power and provide verified information to all without a difference in the future as well,” the statement calling for the rally reads, while one of the organisers, Marija Wazi, warned that government-backed changes would trim the public media budget by CZK1.4bn a year (€57.5mn), CRo reported.
The largest rally was held in the capital Prague on October 25, which filled the historic Old Town square. It took place in response to the Babiš ruling coalition approving the draft bill in the first reading in the small hours (04:36) of October 24, which infuriated demonstrators who saw the unusual parliamentary session hour as a government effort to minimise public rage.
CT and CRo announced a strike to be held on November 3, while the Millions Moments for Democracy announced another mass rally for November 15.
Babiš accused the liberal Pirate Party and other parties campaigning against the decision of “scarring people, dividing society and inciting hatred”, claiming on his Facebook page that “it does not make sense that fees are mandatory for everyone”.
“Today everyone pays for the service they want to watch such as Netflix, Oneplay, HBO etc.,” he argued, dismissing claims the move is designed to tighten political control over the public broadcasters.
Media researchers reiterated their earlier warnings, however, that making public media dependent on the state budget would in fact lead to the increased dependency of the broadcaster on political pressures.
The move also alarmed international press institutions, including the International Press Institute and the European Broadcasting Union, and could send Czechia on a collision course with the EU for failing to secure financial sustainability of public service media and failing to comply with European Media Freedom Act.
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