Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda has vetoed a controversial new law that could have led to Discovery being forced to sell its business in the country.
The bill, known as Lex-TVN, looked to ban companies outside the European Economic Area from owning Polish media channels.
It could have forced Discovery to sell its control of TVN Group, including TVN24, the country’s largest independent and most-watched news network.
Duda agreed with the principle of restricting foreign ownership in media companies, citing laws on that issue in such countries as the United States, France and Germany. But he also argued that passing the bill would be harmful for a business operating legally and also hurt Poland’s reputation as a place to do business.
Following Duda’s decision to veto the law, Discovery said: “This is a victory for the Polish people. We commend the president for doing the right thing and standing up for core democratic values of a free press and the rule of law, and we want to thank all the viewers and everyone that has supported this important issue.”
