photo: piráti.cz
As public service media, Czech Television and Czech Radio are an indispensable source of information and a pillar of a free and democratic society. That is why the Pirates have today supported a proposal at the government meeting that will help ensure their role in the future. The example of neighbouring countries shows how fatal the liquidation of public service media can be. Thanks to the increase in licence fees, public service media will be able to continue to provide a quality service to the people. They will also now play an educational role in combating the spread of disinformation, which was a pirate demand. However, despite the Pirates' opposition, the government passed a proposal that extends the range of licence fee payers to include Internet recipients, i.e. mobile phone holders, for example. This is regardless of whether they watch public media on their phones. The Pirates will also oppose the proposal during the discussion in the Chamber of Deputies. They have already managed to fight for the deletion of the passage according to which an internet provider would have to go into people's private rooms on request and report who is connected and who is not.
"Czech Television and Czech Radio are doing a great job. But it's certainly not automatic. That is why we must clearly stand up for public media. Otherwise, we may end up like neighbouring Slovakia or Hungary in the future. In both countries, the public service media are being liquidated or completely subordinated to the current ruling establishment. In Slovakia it is relatively new, in Hungary it has been around for a long time. And other dictatorial regimes also abuse and control the media. But such an approach is the beginning of the end. We therefore want to go in exactly the opposite direction. Public service media must not serve those in power - whoever is in power." said Pirates chair Ivan Bartoš on the issue of free media.
"But it costs money to do quality, independent journalism. While the costs have been steadily increasing over the past years, the licence fees have been the same since 2008. To ensure that public service media are strong and free, and most importantly, that they remain so in the future, we promised at the beginning of our time in government that we would ensure their long-term sustainable funding. And the increase in licence fees after sixteen years is absolutely necessary for this to happen." Pirates chair Ivan Bartoš explained that the proposal that went to the government was a compromise reached with coalition partners. "We do not agree, for example, that people who do not have a television or radio, but have the internet and a phone or tablet - even if they do not watch or listen to public media - should pay the new fees. I believe, however, that the final form of the law will ultimately be in favour of public service media and, therefore, in favour of citizens. It has already succeeded in preventing Internet providers from spying on people and having to snitch on who is and is not getting Internet from them. That is an important thing that I am pleased about. It is not possible to invade people's privacy on the pretext that we are 'just' checking that someone is not reading iRozhlas or CT24 for free." Bartoš added, stressing that this obligation has disappeared from the law thanks to the work of Pirate Minister Michal Šalomoun.
"It is absolutely crucial that we as a society can rely on and trust a free media. But for that to happen, the public media must be truly independent of the current ruling powers. And they must also provide a really good service. Although it is therefore clear that public service media also need funding to do this, the Pirates are quite ambivalent about the proposal to extend the range of taxpayers to include Internet recipients. The deletion of the passage on the possible reporting by operators on who has and who does not have the internet, and who should therefore pay, resolves many of our reservations. However, it is certainly worth discussing the matter further. The media can be protected without peeping into people's privacy. That's what we want to push for." Ondřej Chrást, Deputy Culture Minister for the Pirates, concluded.
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