Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier told Poland’s PAP news agency that the figures were alarming and showed the need for stronger protection of young internet users.
He noted that Brussels last year took Poland to the European Union’s top court over online safety rules, suing the country at the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to implement the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The DSA is the EU’s main law regulating online platforms and search engines. It sets rules for removing illegal content and managing harmful material, with stricter obligations for the largest online services.
Regnier said the act provides a comprehensive and effective legal framework to tackle illegal and harmful content online, adding that EU citizens should receive comparable levels of protection across all member states.
Statistics shared by the Commission show that 58 percent of Polish children ages 7 to 12 use social media platforms, the PAP news agency reported.
Among teenagers ages 12 to 16, more than half have encountered content that spreads hate or depicts violent, graphic imagery, the Commission said.
It added that a pornographic website is among the most frequently visited sites by Polish children ages 7 to 14.
TikTok is the most popular platform among Polish children in that age group, according to the Commission. At least 250,000 children ages 7 to 14 open the app 20 or more times a day.
The Commission’s court case against Poland focuses on the government’s failure to implement the DSA, including its failure to appoint a national digital services coordinator, the authority responsible for supervising and enforcing the rules.
A negative ruling by the EU court could result in financial penalties.
The dispute escalated earlier this month when Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a government-backed bill aimed at aligning Polish law with the DSA. Nawrocki said the legislation would amount to administrative censorship.
Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski criticized the veto, saying the bill was designed to protect children online and arguing that blocking it leaves them “prey to internet predators.”
His ministry has said it will decide by the end of January how to proceed.
In Washington, the Trump administration has described the EU’s online regulations as censorship, according to news reports.
The US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, praised Nawrocki’s veto in a post on X, saying the president deserved "great credit for vetoing Poland's adoption of the EU's punitive and anti-American Digital Services Act."
In May 2025, the Commission also launched legal action against the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Spain and Portugal for failing to appoint and empower national digital services coordinators under the act.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP