Aug 13, 2021

Aug 13, 2021 12:43pm If the bill becomes law, Discovery, which has the largest U.S. investment in Poland, would have to sell its controlling stake of TVN Group valued at about $3 billion. (Getty Images) Discovery Inc. has officially taken legal action against the Polish government following a favorable vote for a contentious media law, citing a violation of the bilateral investment treaty between the United States and Poland. The bill, which narrowly passed in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, would prevent non-European companies from owning any Polish media. In practice, it would push the American-owned company Discovery out of the country. If the bill becomes law, Discovery, which has the largest U.S. investment in Poland, would have to sell its controlling stake of TVN Group valued at about $3 billion. To officially become law, the bill still needs to be passed in the upper house of parliament and signed by President Andrzej Duda who is not expected to veto the law. Opponents of the bill assert this is a direct attack against freedom of press and is squarely targeted towards Discovery’s TVN Group, which includes TVN24, Poland's leading independent broadcast news channel known to be critical of the nationalist government. The channel reaches about 17 million Polish people.