The Polish Ministry of National Defence has issued a statement regarding a modified photograph featuring Deputy Minister of National Defence Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka. The ministry’s explanation – claiming that artificial intelligence was used to enhance the image quality, inadvertently removing inconvenient elements in the process – triggered a wave of criticism across social media.
The official X account of the Polish Ministry of National Defence published a statement signed by Karolina Wasilewska, Director of the Ministry’s Department of Communication and Promotion. It read, in part:
“In order to improve its quality, we used tools based on artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, during this process, an unintended modification of elements of the photograph occurred, resulting in a version that differs from the original.”
The controversy concerns a photograph posted on social media by the newly appointed Deputy Minister of National Defence, Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka.
The picture was taken during the morning commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Poznań June protests, held in front of the H. Cegielski Rail Vehicles Factory gate. Internet users quickly noticed that the image shared by the deputy minister differed significantly from the original version, which had been published online by, among others, Polska Zbrojna and the Greater Poland Voivodeship Office in Poznań.
The biggest controversy surrounded the removal of the words “Narodowcy RP” (“Nationalists of the Republic of Poland”), which appeared on the T-shirt of a man visible in the original photograph. In addition, the graphic alteration distorted the deputy minister’s face and blurred the rank insignia of the accompanying Polish Army officer.
The ministry’s explanation failed to convince users of the platform, many of whom mocked what they described as an absurd justification. Numerous commenters pointed to historical parallels with censorship practices employed by totalitarian regimes.
MP Paweł Szrot commented:
Another user, operating under the name skalpel, struck a similar tone, writing:
Internet users also questioned the real motive behind editing the photograph, suggesting that the objective was not to improve image quality but to deliberately remove specific elements from the picture.
A user known as Realista stated:
Nata Acosta also commented: “Somehow, the only element that got ‘unintentionally modified’ was the one that happened to be ‘inconvenient.’ 🤡🤡” Marcin Możdżonek also weighed in on the controversy:
The comments also included questions about who had approved the publication of the altered image. Mateusz Kurzejewski, spokesperson for Professor Czarnek’s campaign, asked:
Commentators further pointed out that the edits had distorted the appearance of the Polish military uniform. Witold Garstka emphasized: “The official Ministry of National Defence profile published a photograph in which, among other things, the Polish Army officer’s eagle emblem on his cap was altered into some kind of caricature.”
Some comments directly questioned the competence of those responsible for communications at such a key government ministry. MP Jan Kanthak wrote: “You are a walking embarrassment! And you’re supposed to be responsible for our security? 🤡” Meanwhile, Marcin Henka summed up the situation by saying: “You used artificial intelligence tools because you were out of natural intelligence. 🤣🤣🤣🤣”