Though charity activities can expect publicity in the media, at least 54 Catholic hospices work in Poland without any advertising. A pediatric hospice posted on Facebook asking for financial help, but administrators blocked the post for “social reasons”.
The actions of Facebook show that freedom of speech might be an illusion. Social networks are removing content that they consider inconvenient. Recently, it happened to Filip Buczynski, a Franciscan monk who runs a children’s hospice in Lublin.
Facebook also blocked the promotion of an historical film published by the Łódź branch of the Institute of National Remembrance, considering it to be political content. The material concerns a labor camp for children run by the Germans in Łódź during the Second World War.
Many people who run public Facebook profiles complain of censorship.
“I had my editorial Facebook profile deleted twice with all the content. Well, what didn’t you like there? They didn’t really like the photos. Not the content of the post or the entry, but what was seen in these photos, which were photos taken on the march for life and family. And the second time, facebook deleted my entire editorial account for a photo gallery from the farmers’ protest at the provincial government offices in Białystok.” stated Agnieszka Siewiereniuk-Maciorowska from the “Good Day Białystok” portal.
Censorship is often dictated solely by the interests of the owners of Big Tech.
“At the moment, there are literally a few multinationals which control the flow of all information channels and believe that they do not have to comply with the national laws of the countries in which they operate. An example of such colonization is Poland, where Google, Facebook or Twitter do whatever they want, completely ignoring Polish law.” commented columnist Witold Gadowski.