Mass protest planned in Prague over public media funding reform
Hundreds of thousands are expected to gather in Prague’s Letna Park on November 15 to oppose the Czech government’s plan to overhaul the funding of public broadcasting. The protest follows a surprise overnight parliamentary session in which the coalition of Andrej Babis’s ANO, the far-right SPD and the radical conservative Motorists pushed the bill through its first reading. The vote ended at 04:36 on October 24, prompting demonstrations outside parliament and accusations that the government was deliberately restricting debate.
The proposal would abolish the license fees currently financing Czech Television and Czech Radio, replacing them with direct payments from the state budget. The broadcasters’ funding would fall by about 15% in the first year, potentially leading to cuts in programmes and staff. The coalition calls the license fee an unfair tax and says state funding would make the broadcasters more efficient, noting that similar systems exist elsewhere in the European Union.
Opposition parties, civil society groups and international watchdogs argue that the plan lacks guarantees of long-term financial stability and editorial independence. Staff at both broadcasters went on strike in early November, disrupting television and radio schedules. Students, unions, churches and cultural institutions have joined protests across the country. The November 15 rally is being organized by Million Moments for Democracy, which brought roughly 300,000 people into the streets in 2019 and more than 200,000 earlier this year. Its timing, two days before the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, reinforces the protest’s wider democratic significance.
Continue in the app — vote & join in ➔