On 21 November 2025, the Sejm adopted the Act amending the Act on the Provision of Electronic Services and certain other acts. The Act is currently awaiting the President’s signature.
The above-mentioned amending act, inter alia, adds Chapter 2a to the Act on the Provision of Electronic Services, entitled “Orders to Take Action Against Illegal Content, Orders to Remove Restrictions Imposed by a Hosting Service Provider, and Orders to Provide Information.” The provisions contained therein regulate the procedure for reporting and blocking access to illegal content published in the media, in particular on the Internet.
Under the new provisions, illegal content is defined as content the dissemination of which may constitute the elements of specific prohibited acts relating to the illegal sale of goods or the illegal provision of services, as well as content that incites the commission of a prohibited act or praises the commission of a prohibited act specified in those provisions.
Pursuant to the new regulations, a prosecutor, the Police, an authority of the National Revenue Administration, or a service recipient may submit an application for the issuance of an order to take action against illegal content consisting in preventing access to illegal content present in a service provided by an intermediary service provider. The competent authorities to examine such an application are the Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council and the President of the Office of Electronic Communications.
Upon submission of the above-mentioned application, the competent authority issues a decision ordering the prevention of access to illegal content present in a service provided by an intermediary service provider, or ordering the removal of restrictions imposed by a hosting service provider on a service recipient, if, on the basis of the evidence collected in the proceedings, it finds that the information posted by the service recipient does not constitute illegal content and that its removal by the service provider constituted an excessive interference with the service recipient’s freedom of expression, or that there was an obvious misapplication of the terms and conditions of use of the hosting service provider that formed the basis for imposing the restriction.
In accordance with the new provisions, decisions issued under the above procedure are subject to judicial review.