Poland's lower house of parliament, the Sejm, passed a controversial media reform bill on Friday, known as lex TVN, which - if ratified by the president - would mainly target TVN24 news channel owned by U.S. Discovery company. The law had been rejected by the Senate, but the parliamentary committee on culture and mass media unexpectedly resumed works on the bill on Friday. Opposition MPs say they were informed the this key law would processed again less than 20 minutes before the session.
The legislation sparked a diplomatic dispute between Poland and the United States earlier this year and was criticised by Washington and the European Union as an attempt to limit media freedom. Poland's ruling nationalists, Law and Justice (PiS), say the bill aims to stop countries like Russia or China gaining influence over Polish media.