Fossil fuel giant threatens freedom of press in Poland

Freedom of press in Poland is under threat

Warsaw, 9th November 2020

Government-controlled fossil fuel giant - PKN Orlen - announced on Monday, December 7th that it has acquired from German owners, Polska Press - a large media group encompassing 20 of 24 Polish regional daily newspapers, almost 120 local weekly newspapers and 500 different websites. This was announced by the President of Orlen - Daniel Obajtek.

The Polish government seems to be following the steps of the Hungarian government by taking over media outlets in big numbers to shrink and suffocate free media.

“This move by the Polish government is a direct threat to press freedom in Poland. This threatens not only democracy, but also climate action. Orlen is one of the biggest climate polluters in Poland. What good can possibly come from a fossil fuel giant with a huge carbon footprint seizing control of a big media corporation? We should all be concerned about this as a free press plays a crucial role in holding politicians and corporations to account”, said Marek Józefiak, Media and Policy officer at Greenpeace Poland.

The move has also some further potential negative consequences as 500 websites with around 17 million people outreach, give the government big potential for using Big Data and tracking of citizens.

Illustration by Michal Dyakowski