Poland is pushing legislation that would fine social media platforms $13.5 million for censoring users over ideological differences.
Deputy Polish Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta – the man behind the law – says tech companies have targeted conservatives, Christianity and traditional values for “too long.”
“Freedom of speech is not something that anonymous moderators working for private companies should decide,” said Kaleta to Fox News Wednesday. “Instead, that is for the national body; duly elected officials and all industries, car, phones, finance — were unregulated till they grew too large — the same should happen with Big Tech.”
“We see that when Big Tech decides to remove content for political purposes, it’s mostly content which praises traditional values or praises conservatism,” Kaleta continued. “And it is deleted under their ‘hate speech policy’ when it has no legal right to do so.”
The new legislation hits any platform with a $13.5 million fine if a user is banned over content that is legal under Polish law.
Twitter’s recent banning of former President Trump set a dangerous precedent, Kaleta warned.
“It’s very disturbing because if Big Tech sees themselves as an organization empowered enough to ban a sitting president of the U.S., it sends a message to the world –that we can ban anyone, whenever we want,” said Kaleta.
