Thousands Protest in Prague as Babiš Coalition Fast Tracks Bill to Cut Public Media Funding
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Prague to protest Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his coalition’s plan to abolish household licence fees for public television and radio, replacing them with state budget allocations that would cut funding by about 15%.
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In a Nutshell
- Babiš’s governing coalition plans to abolish household licence fees for Czech Television (CT) and Czech Radio (ČRo), replacing them with state budget allocations that would reduce public media funding by about 15%.
- The lower house approved fast-tracking the bill in a rare overnight vote on October 24, limiting the opposition’s opportunity to debate the legislation.
- Thousands protested in Prague on October 25, demanding the bill’s withdrawal and arguing that the changes threaten press freedom. The bill must still pass the upper house, which could act as a brake on the government.
Context
Concerns about Babiš’s plans to take control of public media were already present when his populist ANO party won the October 2025 general election and began forming a coalition with two right-wing parties. In the run-up to the election, Babiš had promised strict measures against what he called “untransparent institutions that are being misused for the benefit of this government”. He proposed merging Czech Television and Czech Radio into a new entity, claiming the restructuring would deliver huge savings.
This proposal was similar to changes already introduced by the Prime Ministers of two other Visegrad Group members, Hungary and Slovakia. Both Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary and Robert Fico’s government in Slovakia restructured public service media in ways that raised concerns about greater government control over the press, an institution often described as the fourth pillar of democracy.
Why It Matters
Replacing household licence fees with state budget allocations while cutting funding by about 15% would make Czech public media more dependent on the government for its finances, giving the governing coalition greater leverage over the broadcasters.
Similar to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico, who brought public media under greater government control in their respective countries, Babiš had previously proposed merging Czech Television and Czech Radio into a single entity.
While the current bill is a separate measure that will cut public media funding by 15%, it is similar to his previous plan in that broadcasters are likely to be more vulnerable to becoming mouthpieces for state propaganda due to their financial dependence on the government.
The current protests by the public and journalists are not unexpected, considering Czechia’s strong tradition of public media and past resistance to former governments’ attempts to take control of it. Twenty-five years ago, a government bid to seize control of Czech Television collapsed amid huge protests.
What We Think
Babiš’s attempt to bring public media under greater government control is part of a wider pattern of governments seeking to weaken independent journalism, whether by making broadcasters financially dependent on the state or by directly targeting journalists and media outlets.
At the same time, in Turkey, thousands have also taken to the streets in protest against the government’s jailing of 11 journalists in the past two months, shutting down several media outlets and placing others under state-appointed administration. The silver lining is that, in both countries, people are pushing back against their governments’ attempts to restrict independent media.