Government plans broadcasting reform - demonstrations in the Czech Republic for freedom of expression

Nationwide demonstrations Mass protests against broadcasting reform in the Czech Republic As of: October 26, 2026 • 1:02 p.m

The Czech government wants to finance public broadcasting from the state budget in the future - and significantly cut funding for the broadcasters. Tens of thousands protested across the country. They fear less independence.

Despite the changeable weather, the demonstrators stood densely packed in the Old Town Square in Prague's city center on Sunday afternoon. Tens of thousands responded to the call of the “One Million Moments for Democracy” initiative.

They are demonstrating against the government's plans to abolish the fee for public broadcasting and instead finance television and radio directly from the state budget. The public media budget would be cut by more than 15 percent.

“Hands off the media” can be read on posters or “Money today, content tomorrow”. Critics fear that funding from the state budget will jeopardize the independence of reporting.

Sara, an 18-year-old high school graduate, came to the demonstration with a friend. "We are here because we believe the media should be independent and not be threatened by what a politician thinks. And we believe the government's handling of this important law is inappropriate."

The right-wing populist government announced the plan to finance broadcasting from the state budget from January 2027 in the summer.

On Friday evening, the coalition introduced the bill into parliament at short notice and, for many observers, surprisingly, and had it voted on in an unusual night session shortly after half past four on Saturday morning.

A spontaneous demonstration took place in front of Parliament on Friday evening. There were also protests in some other cities in the Czech Republic over the weekend.

Demonstrator Zdenek skala in the Old Town Square is also bothered by how the parliamentary session went. "We believe that such a change should be debated extensively and publicly. But that is not being done - and obviously this debate is being deliberately prevented."

Many people wear hats made of newspaper, a reference to the television character Večerníček.

In addition to posters, Czech flags and EU flags, many people wearing hats made of newspaper can also be seen in the Old Town Square on Sunday. A reference to the television character Večerníček, the Czech equivalent of the Sandman.

Posters with the Czech cartoon character of the little mole crying also stand out from the crowd. Lenka Bartakova came to the demonstration with her child. She decorated the stroller with well-known plush television characters.

"I experienced this under communism, so I definitely don't want something like that to come back," says Lenka Bartakova. "They say it's all about the fees and that they won't influence the content - but that's what they will do. Once the politicians have it in their hands, nobody knows what will happen afterwards."

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš disagrees: Nobody has the intention to intervene in the reporting. The funding of broadcasting would become more stable and predictable as a result of the change in the law, Babiš said on X.

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Liberal President Petr Pavel, however, expressed concern. He criticized, also on X, the way the law was put to the vote. This undermines the “belief in the good intentions of the initiators,” says Pavel.

The political scientist Vladimira Dvorakova also suspects political calculations in the parliamentary vote scheduled at short notice. In the Senate elections at the beginning of October, the opposition performed significantly better than the government parties.

"It's an attempt to draw attention to something else and to have a culture war instead of a debate," says Dvorakova. “There is actually no other reason why it happened so quickly.”

So far, the abolition of broadcasting fees has only cleared the first hurdle, but it could still come into force at the beginning of next year. Prime Minister Babis said today, according to local media, that his coalition is not considering withdrawing the relevant draft law in parliament.

Employees of the public broadcaster have called for a strike on November 3rd. And the next big demonstration has already been announced for mid-November.

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | Czech Republic - Protest against broadcasting reform | Oct 25, 2026 | 9:55 p.m