In an interview with the business paper Puls Biznesu, Gawkowski confirmed that Poland has offensive cyber capabilities.
"We have tools that can be classified as cyberweapons," he said.
Gawkowski, who also serves as a deputy prime minister, argued that such capabilities are part of national security, framing them as a potential response to attacks on critical services.
He said Poland has "forces and means" it could use in a crisis and suggested the country is prepared to retaliate if harmed, giving examples such as disruptions to water, gas, or other essential infrastructure.
New digital tax on big tech
Gawkowski also said in the interview the government is working on a new levy targeting global technology companies.
“Big tech that earns here should pay taxes here like Polish companies,” he said, describing the planned measure as an “equality tax.”
He added that the government intends to unveil a draft bill in January and move it through the formal legislative process.
Gawkowski said officials are examining whether to adjust the planned threshold of EUR 750 million in global revenues so that the tax would not affect Polish firms.
"The point is not to hit any Polish company that pays its taxes honestly," he said.
In the same interview, he pointed to rapid progress in Poland’s digital public services, including "more than 25 new functions" added to the government’s mObywatel mobile app, which allows users to access selected official documents and services on a smartphone.
He said Poland’s e-services stand out in Europe and claimed the country has moved ahead of some Western peers in areas such as access to online services.
Stronger action against disinformation
Looking ahead, Gawkowski said priorities for the next two years include stronger action against disinformation and illegal content online, expanded artificial intelligence infrastructure, and new digital services.
He said the government wants to use the European Union’s Digital Services Act, a set of rules that requires large platforms to tackle illegal content and manage systemic risks, to push platforms to remove content such as scams and patostreaming, a Polish term for harmful, violent or abusive content being live-streamed.
He said the government has increased spending on cybersecurity to PLN 4 billion (EUR 950 million, USD 1.1 billion) in 2025, up from PLN 1.5 billion, and designed a PLN 2.8 billion program to support digital transformation in businesses and universities.
He also highlighted work on Polish-language artificial intelligence models, including PLLuM and Bielik, and said plans include building large-scale computing capacity, including a proposed “giga-factory” for artificial intelligence.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP