Framing enemies by the state television: delegitimization of anti-government protest participants during the first wave of the pandemic in Poland

This article aims to explain how and why the ruling party used the state television to delegitimize protesters during the first wave of the pandemic in Poland. The main argument is that the limitation of freedom of assembly provided the state-owned broadcaster with a new means of delegitimizing the current enemies. The dominant strategy, outcasting, assumed the categorizing of political opponents as madmen and criminals. By showing the protesters as notorious and multiple offenders, the state television diminished their credibility and deprived them of legitimacy in their political roles in order to stabilize antidemocratic tendencies and reduce the threat of political system breakdown that came from ordinary Poles whose non-compliance took the form of protests and oppositional actors responsible for organizing resistance. The media also addressed the risk stemming from intra-elite splits. The opposition to the democratic backsliding, erosion of the rule of law, and political rights violations, which deviated from the ruling party’s course, was on a par with a revolt over the government. Gaining support for the ruling party and taking it away from its opponents aimed to limit dissidents’ resources and the need to repress them.