Thousands of demonstrators flooded Prague’s Old Town Square this Sunday to voice their outrage over a controversial government plan to overhaul how public media is funded. The crowd gathered to demand the immediate withdrawal of legislation that would scrap traditional household license fees, replacing them with direct allocations from the state budget. Protesters expressed deep concern that shifting financial control to the government will effectively stifle press freedom and turn public broadcasting into a mouthpiece for the ruling coalition.
The tension stems from a rare and hurried overnight session in the lower house of parliament, where lawmakers pushed through the bill during the early hours of Saturday morning. Many in the crowd chanted 4:36, marking the exact time the measure was approved, arguing that the rush was a deliberate attempt to silence opposition debate. While Prime Minister Andrej Babis maintains that the reform is simply about increasing funding transparency, critics argue it mimics populist tactics seen in Hungary and Slovakia, potentially allowing the state to punish critical reporting by cutting budgets.
Beyond the street protests, a broader wave of resistance is building across various sectors of society. Public media employees have already announced a strike scheduled for November 3rd, receiving backing from labor unions, church leaders, and academic rectors who view the move as an existential threat to journalistic independence. This unrest comes amid wider political friction regarding Babis’s agenda, including his administration’s efforts to reduce support for Ukraine.
As the bill moves toward a final vote in the upper house, opposition leaders have vowed to fight back via the constitutional court. To keep the momentum alive, organizers are planning another massive rally at Letna Park on November 15th. By timing the demonstration just days before the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, protesters intend to draw a symbolic parallel between today’s legislative battle and the historic struggle against totalitarian censorship that liberated Czechoslovakia decades ago.
