The Polish government wants to introduce a law that prevents tech companies from censoring people

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The Polish government, whose base politics and views are often in line with Trump’s, harshly criticized social media companies for their decision to ban Trump. They even compared the ban with censorship in communism. 

The banishment of Donald Trump from social media drew various opinions, and it remains a hot topic today. Many welcomed the bans, saying that they were bound to happen eventually. On the other side, others were firmly against it.

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, said that algorithms or those that own social media platforms should not decide who is right or wrong. He also added that no consent can be achieved on censorship and that censorship of free speech that was once associated with authoritarian and totalitarian regimes is seeing a comeback. Morawiecki also claimed that censorship’s comeback is in a new form. This new form uses commercial mechanisms to censor those with different views.

Mr. Morawiecki’s rant on Trump’s ban also drew different opinions in Poland, ranging from very positive to some even calling him hypocritical. Hypocritical because the prime minister, members of his cabinet, and members of their Justice (PiS) Party were once accused of trying to suppress freedom of free speech.

Furthermore, some politicians and members of the Justice (PiS) Party made it a habit of publicly posting anti-refugee and anti-LGBT rhetoric. When those posts were flagged or even removed by tech companies, government members called that suppression of free speech in Poland. They even said that right-wing views were and still are victims of a biased decision-making system designed by international tech companies. 

In the last few years, Facebook blocked numerous posts from far-right Polish organizations and politicians. Janusz Korwin-Mikke, an MP and a member of the Konfederacja Party, had his account suspended by Facebook. The social media giant called it “repeated violations of community standards.” In response, Korwin-Mikke said that bolsheviks and fascists run Facebook.

Sebastian Kaleta, the secretary of state in the Polish Ministry of Justice, said that there is a draft version of the new law that would make it illegal for social media companies to remove content from their platform that doesn’t break any Polish law. 

The proposal that is still in a draft version is far from seeing the light of the day as it can take almost three years until it becomes a law.

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Editors’ Recommendations:

• It looks like Facebook plans on keeping Donald Trump’s ban in place
• Facebook warns its employees to stop wearing company swag out in public after the Trump ban
• Jack Dorsey believes banning Trump on Twitter was right, but worries it could be a slippery slope
• Parler is (kinda) back thanks to a Russian tech company

Deep Ballu