Information Society services.

The draft bill sets out the obligations of providers of electronic services regarding the protection of minors from pornographic content offered by the service provider in connection with the provision of electronic services.

Act on the Protection of Minors from Access to Pornographic Content on the Internet

The purpose of the law is to protect minors from accessing pornographic content online. Service providers (electronic services) providing access to pornographic content will be required to apply an age verification mechanism and to prevent access to such content by minors. A user’s self-declaration of their age will not be considered a sufficient form of verification. The Act does not impose any specific age verification technology, but indicates that the use of an ageverification attribute within the European Digital Identity Wallet is the preferred option. Age verification mechanisms should also comply with the general rules on the protection of personal data. The President of the Office of Electronic Communications will keep a register of domains providing pornography without appropriate age verification. Domains may be entered into the register either ex officio or on the basis of applications from members of the public or other organisations, as well as from the Chair of the National Broadcasting Council (in the case of entities providing on-demand audiovisual media services or video-sharing platform providers). When assessing applications, the President of the Office of Electronic Communications will draw on the opinion of the Scientific and Academic Computer Network – National Research Institute. Before the entry is made, the domain owner will be notified and given the opportunity to provide explanations. If the infringements are rectified or effective measures to protect minors are put in place, no entry will be made in the register. Internet providers will be obliged to block access to domains listed in the register. A user attempting to access a blocked page will be redirected to the relevant message. The domain owner will be able to object to the entry in the register. If the objection is not accepted, a complaint may be lodged with an administrative court. The President of the Office of Electronic Communications will be granted control powers over service providers and Internet providers. Financial penalties ranging from PLN 10,000 to PLN 1,000,000 for service providers and up to PLN 250,000 for Internet service providers are imposed for breaches of these obligations. The Act will apply to both domestic entities and foreign entities providing services to users located in Poland. The Act will enter into force 12 months after its publication.