Dariusz Standerski told broadcaster Polsat News last week that Poland should introduce a regulation cutting young people off from social media, though he said the precise age threshold should follow expert assessments and a serious public debate.
"We should introduce such a provision," Standerski said. "I am not deciding from what age."
He added that officials are working on the technical conditions needed to make any ban enforceable, arguing that 2026 is an appropriate moment to introduce such rules in Poland.
Standerski said the ministry is developing an age-verification tool that could be used when creating accounts on social media platforms. Under the concept he described, a user registering would be prompted to confirm their age, and the system would go beyond a simple self-declaration.
Instead, he said, the confirmation would be generated through a digital identity wallet and would transmit only the information that a user meets the age requirement, with what he described as a high level of security.
Standerski said similar tools are being tested in some other European Union countries and that Poland is working with those member states to learn how to apply them.
In the same interview, Standerski addressed a separate, politically sensitive piece of legislation that would make it easier to remove illegal content online by implementing the EU’s Digital Services Act, the bloc’s rulebook for online platforms.
The amendment is awaiting the signature of President Karol Nawrocki.
Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski publicly urged Nawrocki on Friday to sign the bill, arguing that it would help authorities respond to illegal content, including material created with artificial intelligence.
Standerski said Poland currently lacks a clear legal basis to compel the removal of illegal content online, pointing to a recent case involving death threats against Nawrocki.
He said the threatening post disappeared because its author deleted it, while also telling Polsat News that police and other services had no tools to block it, despite the alleged offense being covered by Poland’s criminal code.
The Digital Services Act has applied across the EU since February 17, 2024, setting obligations for online intermediaries and platforms to address illegal content and manage systemic risks.
Under the Polish amendment, oversight of the EU rules would be divided among several regulators. The Office of Electronic Communications would supervise most cases, the National Broadcasting Council would oversee video-sharing platforms, and the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection would handle online marketplaces and other consumer-protection issues.
The bill would cover a wide range of illegal content. Examples cited in the legislation include criminal threats, encouragement to take one’s own life, the promotion of pedophilic behavior, propaganda for totalitarian ideologies, and hate speech, including insults and incitement based on nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion.
It also includes content infringing copyright and material linked to illegal sales of goods or unlawful services.
Nawrocki has criticized the legislation, describing it in late November as an overregulation of EU rules that could limit Poles’ ability to share opinions online.
In response to those concerns, lawmakers adopted a series of amendments, backed by the upper house in December, that removed a fast-track enforcement clause.
Under the revised approach, a decision by regulators to block content would not take immediate effect. The party affected could take the matter to court, and the decision would become enforceable only after a court ruling.
Standerski argued during parliamentary work on the bill that this change means a court would ultimately decide, at the end of each proceeding, whether specific online content is illegal or legal.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP