Andrzej Duda (President of Poland) met with representatives from both Facebook and Google-owned YouTube to discuss Russian “disinformation”.
The Polish government has adopted a mixed approach in dealing with online censorship. It promoted a law to protect citizens’ free speech rights from Silicon Valley censorship while also pushing tech giants to address alleged Russian “disinformation”.
Duda met recently with Susan Wojcicki (YouTube CEO), and Nick Clegg (Facebook Global Affairs VP) to discuss the matter.
According to the Chancellery, the President reported that ministers from the Chancellery were also present at the meeting: Wojciech Kolarski and Pawel Szrot, as well as Andrzej Zybertowicz, presidential advisor.
Andrzej duda met Nick Clegg, president of Meta, at the Presidential Palace a few days ago. The company, which was founded at the end last year, owns brands like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The talks focused on the company’s activities and plans for the region, as well as the impact of the conflict in Ukraine. Andrzej Duda, President of the company, spoke on the topic of preventing dissemination of false information and disinformation.
The Duda government previously expressed interest in combating political censorship by Silicon Valley companies.
After President Trump was censored by social media platforms in late 2019, culminating in his ban in January 2021. The ruling conservative government introduced a law to establish a free speech court. This court could impose millions of euros fines on tech companies who fail to restore the content that the court found wrongfully censored.
