Poland’s President has signed a new amendment to the anti-terrorism law, updating the regulations concerning the operations of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and the Foreign Intelligence Agency (AW). Passed by the Sejm in mid-October and approved by the Senate on November 7, the legislation aligns Poland with the European Union’s directive on preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online.
The amendment targets materials that incite or instruct on terrorist activities, such as online recruitment for sabotage and attacks on critical infrastructure. Under the law, ABW is empowered to issue removal orders to hosting service providers for terrorist content, block access to such content across EU member states, and supervise compliance with these measures. Hosting providers flagged by ABW as vulnerable to terrorist content will also be subject to specific oversight and penalties for violations.
Key provisions include the creation of a 24/7 contact point within ABW to handle inquiries about removal orders, along with administrative fines for non-compliance. Hosting providers and content creators affected by ABW’s orders will have the right to appeal decisions before an administrative court.
The law, set to take effect 14 days after its publication, aims to strengthen Poland’s anti-terrorism framework while ensuring legal recourse for affected parties.