Public Media Funding Cut: Ministry of Digital Affairs Releases New Data

During a parliamentary committee hearing, Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Rafał Rosiński reported that funding for public media from the ministry dropped from over 28 million PLN to 13 million PLN between 2024 and 2025.

Funding Discrepancies and Parliamentary Inquiries

The Parliamentary Committee on Digitalization, Innovation, and Modern Technology convened on Wednesday to review financial flows from the Ministry of Digital Affairs to public media companies currently in liquidation, including Telewizja Polska, Polskie Radio, and regional stations.

PiS MP Katarzyna Czochara requested the meeting to address unanswered questions regarding the total amounts transferred to these entities and the specific purposes of these contracts. She questioned whether expenditures were justified given the state of liquidation of these organizations.

Scope of Digital Campaigns and Disinformation

Deputy Minister Rafał Rosiński clarified that funds transferred to public media were not for programming, but for information and education campaigns. These focused on digital safety, the promotion of digital government services like mObywatel, and efforts to combat disinformation.

Rosiński noted that the ministry and its subordinate units allocated 16 million PLN to public media in 2022–2023, decreasing to 7 million PLN in 2024–2025. The ministry budget itself contributed 4.7 million PLN in 2022 and 2.4 million PLN in 2024.

Legislative Debate on Future Strategy

Opposition members criticized the delay in receiving data and pushed for detailed reporting on spending through June 2026. Representatives from the Civic Coalition (KO) argued against cutting funds for digital literacy, suggesting that campaigns should continue to reach vulnerable groups through popular television formats.