Since February 17, 2024, the Digital Services Act (DSA), also known as Regulation 2022/2065, has been in force within the European Union. The new regulations were introduced to improve the safety of users online, support the fight against illegal content on the internet, and impose obligations on platforms and social media, including reporting mechanisms and oversight. On April 15, 2024, the Ministry of Digital Affairs concluded the public consultations on the draft bill implementing Regulation 2022/2065 into Polish law. (link:https://www.gov.pl/web/cyfryzacja/bezpieczniejsi-w-sieci—podsumowanie-konsultacji-spolecznych-wdrozenia-dsa-w-polsce) .
We were one of eight non-governmental organizations that submitted comments on the draft bill.
In our position, we emphasize that non-governmental organizations working on human rights issues, hate crimes, including hate speech published on electronic social media services, as well as organizations representing religious or ethnic minorities, play a crucial role in monitoring and providing feedback on the effectiveness of regulations aimed at protecting human rights and combating hate speech and hate crimes. Their role as trusted reporting entities or verified researchers is particularly important in the process of combating illegal content on the internet. In our view, lawmakers should particularly focus on:
- Appointing a national coordinator for digital services who will have access to appropriate human and financial resources, as well as support from other national institutions.
- Clarifying the role of trusted reporting entities and verified researchers, and providing real financial support to enable them to carry out their activities.
- Establishing a Council under the digital services coordinator to facilitate cooperation, particularly between the government and organizations with trusted reporting entity status and verified researchers, in the context of implementing the goals and provisions of Regulation 2022/2065.