Thousands of people in the Czech Republic have protested against the government's plans to overhaul public media. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Reuters.
The protests began after a rushed vote. Those gathered in the capital, Prague, demanded the protection of the independence of public media.
The government's initiative envisages changing the leadership of public broadcasters and altering their funding system. Officials say the reform is aimed at modernising the media.
However, protesters view these changes as political interference and believe they threaten editorial independence. They also criticised the haste of the vote.
According to Reuters, the protest was peaceful. Local media report that thousands of people took part in the event.
Earlier, a debate over the public media reform had been ongoing in the Czech Republic for several weeks. Many journalists and civil activists criticised the government's plans, calling them inconsistent with European democratic standards.
Government representatives say the goal of the reform is to make public media more efficient and modern. According to them, the changes will not harm editorial independence.
As part of the protest, organisers called on the government to reconsider its decision. However, the authorities are not yet intending to back down.