While liberal governments in Western Nations seek to fine social media Big Techs- Facebook and Twitter, for failing to remove the so-called “Community Standards, Hate Speech etc"; As activists in Nigeria, especially pro Biafra agitators, keep suffering censorship and suppression by Facebook and Twitter, Poland is taking a refreshingly different approach.
A new law is due to be passed in Poland that would warrant a whooping sum of $2.2 million fine on Big Tech firms any time they unconstitutionally censor lawful free speech online.
The Polish Justice Minister, Zbigniew Ziobro made it clear that the legal initiative was designed to fight censorship
“Under its provisions, social media services will not be allowed to remove content or block accounts if the content on them does not break Polish law.
“In the event of removal or blockage, a complaint can be sent to the platform, which will have 24 hours to consider it.
“Within 48 hours of the decision, the user will be able to file a petition to the court for the return of access. The court will consider complaints within seven days of receipt and the entire process is to be electronic.
Ziobro stated that censorship by these Big Techs would not impact the right of people who have been slandered or defamed to pursue justice, however he concluded that the Polish Justice Department would propose tools that will adjudicate whether contents violate citizen's rights.
"Often, the victims of tendencies for ideological censorship are also representatives of various groups operating in Poland, whose content is removed or blocked, just because they express views and refer to values that are unacceptable from the point of view of communities with an ever-stronger influence on the functioning of social media.
“We realize that it is not an easy topic. We realize that on the internet there should also be a sphere of guarantees for everybody who feels slandered, a sphere of limitation of various content which may carry with it a negative impact on the sphere of other people’s freedom.
“But we would like to propose such tools that will enable both one side and the other to call for the decision of a body that will be able to adjudicate whether content appearing on such and such a social media account really violates personal rights, whether it can be eliminated, or whether there is censorship.”
"This should be the model for all developed countries that value free speech, especially the United States."__Ziobro Stated
Do you think the rest of the world needs to start thinking a lot more like Poland?
Reviewed by Okenwa Chinedu
on
December 31, 2020
Rating:
No comments: