Punishment for online likes? We know what MPs want to change in the controversial bill.

• Confederation and PiS will submit their amendments to the Digital Services Act.
• Doubts are raised, among other things, about the impartiality of officials responsible for blocking content.
• The debate over the DSA is heated – work on the bill was suspended before the elections. The first version of the bill sparked opposition from non-governmental organizations and the market.

Members of Parliament's Digital Affairs, Innovation, and Modern Technologies Committee are debating the draft bill implementing the Digital Rights Act on Wednesday. A public hearing on these provisions was held on Tuesday , with over 50 representatives from non-governmental organizations, creative communities, and businesses speaking.

The project is generating considerable excitement . The DSA aims to increase online security, limit the power of large technology platforms, and empower users. However, to benefit from European regulations in Poland, a national law is needed, which, among other things, will introduce tools to combat illegal content.

Critics of the Ministry of Digital Affairs' bill even accuse the government of developing a mechanism for internet censorship . The new regulations authorize the president of the Office of Electronic Communications to issue orders blocking access to content published online. This procedure will apply to illegal material that meets certain criteria, such as threats and harassment of internet users based on race, nationality, religion, or political affiliation.

PiS wants to speed up court decisions on content blocking

Opposition MPs are announcing major amendments. Law and Justice (PiS) wants to deprive so-called trusted whistleblowers—such as social organizations—of the ability to petition the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) to block access to illegal content. A statement shared by PiS MP Janusz Cieszyński, former Minister of Digital Affairs, justified this change by arguing that this solution does not stem directly from the DSA and creates the risk of manipulating the set of trusted entities, which could threaten freedom of speech online.

The Cieszyn MP will also propose an amendment limiting the ability of the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) to make an order to block content immediately enforceable. The government bill provides for such enforcement if it is necessary due to the extent of the damage caused or threatened, due to public interest, or the exceptionally important interest of a party. PiS wants to eliminate this latter option. According to the party, this is intended to more effectively protect the constitutional value of freedom of speech and limit the scope of the UKE President's intervention.

Furthermore, with respect to an order to block content with immediate enforceability, any objection must be submitted by the Office of Electronic Communications to the court within 24 hours. The court, in turn, must hear the case within 48 hours. If the court fails to do so, the immediate enforceability of the decision will be suspended until the final conclusion of the court proceedings.

The Confederation, in turn, believes that under the bill, even the mere act of praising the posting of illegal content will be considered illegal. "Likes and reactions will therefore be penalized, and therefore the individuals who post them will be subject to identification under Article 10 of the DSA," we read in the party's position, which has been reviewed by WNP. The Confederation wants this option removed.

Insulting the nation as illegal content?

Law and Justice would like to see amendments related to, among other things, the transparency of the Office of Electronic Communications' operations. These include requiring individuals issuing content blocking decisions to be apolitical, with their biographies posted on the office's website. According to the MPs' proposal, such officials would not be allowed to belong to a political party or engage in "public activities that are incompatible with the principles of impartiality, reliability, and respect for political neutrality."

On the other hand, PiS also proposes expanding the list of content that can be blocked to include public insults against the nation or the Republic of Poland . The change is intended to counteract "anti-Polish statements online, where using the tool provided by the DSA seems to be one of the more justified of all possible situations."

Confederation MP Bartłomiej Pejo, chairman of the Digital Affairs Committee, will propose a number of Confederation amendments. The most important of these is the removal of the entire chapter on content blocking procedures from the proposed law.

“Provisions giving state authorities the ability to block access to content and information available on the internet have always raised and will continue to raise concerns and questions about the impact of such solutions on civil rights and freedoms,” the Confederation explains.

The row over warning lists. The coalition announces changes.

The Civic Coalition (KO) is also announcing its changes in response to protests from the cybersecurity community. The government's bill assumes that a tool created to combat cybercrime can be used to block websites with illegal broadcasts, content, or even materials deemed to infringe copyright.

This concerns a warning list previously maintained by CERT Polska, located at NASK. Today, it includes fake phishing websites (phishing, fake banks, investments, logins, etc.). Operators such as Play and Orange used the list to warn users about scams – trusting that genuinely malicious domains were included, they simply blocked connection attempts to all entries in advance.

Experts, including Mateusz Chrobok and Adam Haertle, warned, however, that this is a dangerous precedent – ​​because it opens the way to administrative censorship of the internet, without judicial control, under the pretext of "user protection".

The Ministry of Digital Affairs agreed with the concerns. In an interview with WNP, Deputy Minister Dariusz Standerski argued that one of the coalition MPs would submit an amendment to ensure that the President of the Office of Electronic Communications, rather than CSIRT NASK, maintains the list of domains violating copyright law.