Instrumentalisation of Hate Speech Regulations in the Actions of the Chair of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT): The 2023 Tok FM Case

Abstract

The Polish National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) is a constitutional public authority established to safeguard freedom of speech, the right to information, and the public interest in radio and television broadcasting. Its main objective is to protect the pluralistic nature of broadcasting. Simultaneously, broadcasters have been subjected to a range of restrictions. In particular, the broadcasts must not contain incitement to hatred or violence or discriminatory content. The assessment in this case lies with the Chairman of the Council, who has been vested with the authority to issue decisions imposing fines. The largely subjective criteria indicated can be made more objective by considering other provisions in the legal framework and case law. However, there is no doubt that the way these concepts are interpreted is shaped by the specific analytical lens adopted, i.e., whether they are grounded in the principles of liberal democracy or shaped by the ideological matrix of right-wing populism. An analysis of the decisions issued by the Chair of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) between 2016 and 2023 – thus covering two consecutive terms of the KRRiT coinciding with the period of governance by the Law and Justice party – indicates that, contrary to expectations, the Chair of the KRRiT, as a general rule, did not invoke provisions prohibiting hate speech when assessing broadcast content. In fact, only one decision – namely, the one issued in the Tok FM case in 2023 – may serve as an example of the instrumental application of provisions aimed at combating hate speech, the underlying rationale of which may lie in populist assumptions.