The Digital Services Act (DSA) would weaken Poland in many ways, said the US Ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose. In his view, President Karol Nawrocki “deserves great recognition” for vetoing it. “Poland does not win by becoming a compliance zone for technologies created elsewhere. Poland wins by building, scaling, and exporting,” he assessed.
President Karol Nawrocki last Friday vetoed an amendment to the Act on the provision of electronic services. It 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 online content.
Explaining his veto, Nawrocki pointed out 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 ‘1984’,” the president said.
The head of state’s decision met with sharp criticism from the governing camp. The Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, even accused the president 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.
However, social media also saw a flood of comments praising the veto. They were posted both by politicians from the Polish opposition and by other users of the X platform. Even the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, weighed in. – Bravo! – he wrote. Now the US Ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, has also addressed the opposition to censorship. “He deserves great recognition”
“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,” he diplomat stated.
In his view, “the DSA would weaken Poland in many ways.” – It would stifle innovation, limit achievements, create enormous barriers for new market entrants, and practically prevent Polish companies from scaling – it would strip Polish innovation of capital and replace it with Brussels bureaucrats, lawyers, and auditors, and replace clear rules with regulatory discretion,” he pointed out.
“Poland does not win by becoming a compliance zone for technologies created elsewhere. Poland wins by building, scaling, and exporting. A system that punishes scale ensures dependence, not sovereignty,” Rose concluded.