“Poland understands that competitiveness equals survival. That is why President Karol Nawrocki deserves great recognition for vetoing Poland’s adoption of the punitive and anti-American EU Digital Services Act,” wrote the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, on social media. The post was answered by Krzysztof Gawkowski, Minister of Digital Affairs, who disagrees with President Nawrocki’s veto. “You are mistaken,” he replied to the ambassador.
Last Friday, President Karol Nawrocki vetoed an amendment to the Act on the Provision of Electronic Services. The amendment was intended to ensure the effective application in Poland of the provisions of the EU Digital Services Act, concerning, among other things, the blocking of illegal content online.
Explaining his decision, the head of state indicated that the new regulations would introduce “administrative censorship” in Poland. “A situation in which what is allowed on the internet is decided by an official subordinate to the government resembles the concept of the ‘Ministry of Truth’ from George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four,” President Nawrocki said.
The ruling camp responded to the president’s veto with criticism. The Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, even accused Karol Nawrocki of “exposing Polish children to internet predators.” “By vetoing the DSA, the President says: first algorithms, first hate, first evil – only then citizens. Shame!” he stated.
Internet users took a different view, fearing increased censorship and, consequently, a lack of freedom to express opinions in the media space. Even the owner of the platform, Elon Musk, commented on the matter. “Bravo!” he wrote. The issue was then addressed by the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose.
“Poland understands that competitiveness equals survival. That is why President Karol Nawrocki deserves great recognition for vetoing Poland’s adoption of the punitive and anti-American EU Digital Services Act,” the diplomat stated in a post published on X.
According to the ambassador, “the DSA would weaken Poland in many ways.”
“It would stifle innovation, limit achievement, create enormous barriers for new entrants to the market, and virtually prevent Polish companies from scaling – it would deprive Polish innovation of capital and replace it with Brussels bureaucrats, lawyers, and auditors, while replacing clear rules with regulatory discretion,” he listed.
Rose concluded: “Poland does not win by becoming a compliance zone for technology built elsewhere. Poland wins by building, scaling, and exporting. A system that punishes scale ensures dependency, not sovereignty.”
Gawkowski to the U.S. Ambassador: You Are Mistaken
The U.S. ambassador’s post did not sit well with the Minister of Digital Affairs. Krzysztof Gawkowski responded by opening with the words “you are mistaken.” “Respect for the Polish-American partnership must begin with facts,” he stated.
The Act on the Provision of Electronic Services has nothing to do with stifling innovation or “punishing America.” The Digital Services Act applies directly in Europe. In Poland, its implementation means protecting POLISH citizens from digital pathologies: illegal content, fraud, and hate directed at children and young people. Not a single provision blocked investment, development, or the expansion of companies in Poland – regardless of their country of origin. On the contrary, it established clear rules of the game for everyone – wrote the New Left politician.
At the end, we read: “Freedom without responsibility is not sovereignty, it is helplessness. And a strong state protects its society, it does not abandon that protection in the name of corporate interests. Even those originating from the country of our most important ally.”
In a similar vein, Roman Giertych, an MP from the Civic Coalition, wrote on X. “Praise from the U.S. ambassador for Mr. Nawrocki for vetoing a law that would have made life harder for Musk’s empire. This must be the day when Mr. Nawrocki is very proud. He performs the task entrusted to him well and receives praise for it. He surely feels appreciated,” he attacked the head of state.