Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-000257/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Jadwiga Wiśniewska (ECR)
In amending Polish law in line with the DSA, the Ministry of Digitalisation is introducing amendments to the Polish Electronic Services Act.
The director of the Electronic Communications Office (UKE) is being given the power to block online content infringing, inter alia, personal rights or intellectual property rights. The decision will be immediately enforceable – i.e. the provider must remove the content without waiting for a court decision.
This may result in content critical of the government being censored, as the appointment of the director of the UKE is heavily influenced by whichever political force is dominant.
The powers to be conferred on the director of the UKE resemble preventive state censorship, which is prohibited under Article 54 of the Constitution (guaranteeing everyone the freedom to express their opinions and to obtain information), and they are incompatible with Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, to which the Regulation refers.
Could the Commission please answer the following questions:
- 1.Does the Commission not consider such a mechanism to be incompatible with the Regulation’s objectives of achieving more effective protection of fundamental rights, including guaranteeing freedom of expression and privacy, and greater transparency in content moderation decisions?
- 2.Is the broad scope of content that may be removed under the Polish law compatible with the definition of ‘illegal content’ under Article 3(h) of the Regulation?
- 3.Does the Commission consider that the powers of the director of the UKE are safeguarded by the procedural guarantees under Article 9 of the Regulation, which limit the risk of arbitrary use of powers by the national authority?
Submitted: 21.1.2025