The justice ministry has unveiled a bill to protect social media users in Poland against “internet giants”. It would introduce a process for appealing against the blocking of content and banning of users, as well as helping people launch lawsuits for the online spreading of lies about them.
The proposed law, which was first announced in December, has now been added to the government’s legislative agenda, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki promised to fight “totalitarian censorship” by social media firms.
The legislation would require social media platforms to consider complaints from users who have had their accounts blocked or content removed within 48 hours, reports Rzeczpospolita. Users who are dissatisfied with the response could refer their case to a newly established “Free Speech Council”.
That body could call on social media operators to restore blocked content or accounts and impose fines between 50,000 zloty and 50 million zloty (€10,900 to €10.9 million). Its decisions could be appealed in court.
The plan differs from the one presented by the justice ministry last month, which envisioned rulings being made by a court rather than a council chosen by parliament.
This week the PM promised to fight "totalitarian censorship" by social media firms https://t.co/t8bPw5FyiO
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 15, 2021
The stated purpose of the bill is to “introduce legal instruments” to protect users of social media from “often controversial…filtering mechanisms”. It aims to ensure the constitutional right of Polish social media users “to freely express their views” and to ensure “transparency” in content filtering procedures.
According to a deputy justice minister, Sebastian Kaleta, the new rules, which are in the phase of public and ministerial consultations, would address the current “legal vacuum” around online activity. “Our citizens are often defenceless in the fight against internet giants,” he said, quoted by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
However, there remain worries about the potential politicisation of the proposed Free Speech Council, which would be composed of a chairperson and four members appointed by the lowest house of parliament, the Sejm, for six-year terms.
While a 3/5 majority would be required for appointments, this would be lowered to a simple majority if no candidate receives sufficient backing. “We may have a situation where some views will be protected by the council, and different views will not,” said Zbigniew Krüger, a lawyer quoted by Rzeczpospolita.
Last week, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported that the proposed council could be dropped before the law is passed. It quoted a lawyer, Krzysztof Izdebski, who said it would be a “good” change in the direction suggested by experts, who argue that courts should be entrusted with such matters.
However, here too there has been concern about whether courts could handle the volume of cases. “Judging by the number of complaints filed with Facebook, there could be a lot of them,” said Izdebski.
According to Rzeczpospolita, the new legislation would also include an amendment to the civil code allowing people who have had untrue information shared about them online to launch legal action against someone posting under a pseudonym.
The social media operator may then be required to track the online data of the accused user – such as their IP address – to help determine their identity.
Krüger, the lawyer, notes that the whole bill will depend on the “good will” of large internet corporations because Poland “does not have the mechanisms to force them” to comply.
In January, Morawiecki also called for tighter regulations from the European Union, which is in the process of developing its Digital Services Act, which is meant to standardise procedures for reporting and removing illegal online content.
Kaleta said that European regulation could serve as a “good basis for the protection of the right to freedom of speech” but was only “partially” related to Poland’s own draft bill.
Earlier this year Gazeta Polska, a conservative newspaper, launched a new Polish social media site to “stop censorship”. But critics noted that its own user agreement also reserved the right to remove content.
Main image credit: Stacey MacNaught/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
