Co wolno właścicielom mediów? Debata na temat prawa do ograniczania swobody wypowiedzi polityków w mediach w Polsce, Rosji i Niemczech po szturmie na Kapitol

The article presents the results of comparative research on public/state media narratives on freedom of speech and democratic values. The starting point of the analysis is media coverage of the events in the United States in 2021 when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol. Following this incident, owners of media companies decided to block the outgoing president’s social media accounts. This decision led to many controversies and became a pretext for redefining the concepts of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of the media and responsible speech by politicians. The method used in this study was content analysis, and 73 materials were coded in 85 categories. The article presents both quantitative and qualitative results. The main goal is to demonstrate how different public/state media in European countries (Poland, Russia and Germany) reported not only the events alone, but also constructed narratives about democratic values, and the role of the media and politicians. A country’s journalistic and political culture has a significant impact on the construction of meaning and contextualisation of certain concepts and values in a manner that their interpretation is completely different, despite journalists using the same terms. Findings indicate that this may potentially impact building civic awareness, the sustainability of the democratic system, and the credibility of the media as a source of information about politics.