Platforms committed to faster moderation, X skipped the meeting
Reports from Polish services are to be handled under an expedited procedure. At the same time, work is underway on a law implementing the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which provides for penalties for platforms calculated on the basis of global turnover.
On Friday, 16 October, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski met with representatives of digital platforms. The discussion concerned children's safety online. Invitations were sent to Meta, Google, TikTok, Roblox, Discord, X, Snap and Telegram. According to Spider's Web, the last three did not send representatives.
The platforms committed to three actions. In the coming weeks, they will conduct training sessions. They will create direct contact channels for Polish services. They will also shorten the moderation time for reports submitted by NASK (Research and Academic Computer Network), CBZC (Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime) and other state institutions. The minister announced that he would monitor the platforms' response times and publicly report the results.
The meeting was a response to the "critical week" after knife attacks in schools. According to data cited by Polsat News, state institutions then sent the platforms 89 reports of illegal content, and 30 of them were removed. The ministry said that more than two-thirds of reports from NASK were ignored. On X, out of 57 reported materials, the platform removed or limited the visibility of 20, and took no action on 37. Gawkowski said at the conference, as quoted by PAP:
Platform X is a hate platform.
X's press office did not respond to PAP's request for comment. The question concerned a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), according to which age verification mechanisms on X do not protect EU teenagers from sexual content.
The minister announces the launch of proceedings against X as soon as the law implementing the Digital Services Act (DSA, EU regulations on the obligations of online platforms) is signed. The Senate adopted it on 13 October with 10 amendments. The law now returns to the Sejm and will later go to the president. It provides for penalties of up to 6 percent of a platform's annual global turnover for violations.
The expedited procedure applies to reports from services and state institutions. The ministry did not announce changes in the handling of reports from companies, for example concerning fake profiles impersonating a brand.