Free Media in Poland – Historical and Contemporary Threats, Questions and Problems

Abstract

Artykuł ma charakter interdyscyplinarny. Odnosi się do historii i prawa mediów w Polsce. Nie ma on charakteru ściśle prawniczego – jest to raczej przeglądowa refleksja na temat: jak polskie prawo chroniło wolność słowa i mediów na przestrzeni dziejów? Refleksja nie obejmuje lat 2015-2017.

This article is an interdisciplinary review. It relates both to the history of mass media and to the Polish press law. Author attempts to answer the question whether the Polish law protects the freedom of speech and what are the basic regulations in the Polish legislature concerning the protection of freedom of speech, also in relation to other human rights. The analysis will be preceded by a summary of how the law regulated the freedom of speech throughout the centuries in Poland and by a theoretial investigation on the fundamental aspects of the freedom of speech and its connection with the freedom of the media. However, it must be concerned that the article has rather character of some general review than detailed, strictly law-based analysis. The main goal of this text is a reflection on the general approach to freedom of the speech and freedom of the mass media in Poland – in the past and now (before 2015).