Michał Wawrykiewicz, an MEP from Poland's ruling Civic Coalition (KO), said in an interview with state broadcaster TVP Info that European standards of free expression have always included certain restrictions.
"Whenever freedom of speech enters dangerous territory—such as violating human dignity, threatening security or endangering the rights of minors—it must be subject to limitations," Wawrykiewicz said.
He dismissed accusations from critics in Poland and abroad that measures aimed at curbing disinformation undermine free speech.
"This is in no way censorship," Wawrykiewicz said. "It is action taken for the good of citizens, to protect their rights and the rights of the youngest. This is nothing new."
He said European societies are facing increasingly serious threats "in the public sphere," driven by the rapid growth of social media, disinformation, cyberattacks and manipulative narratives.
"We are dealing with a clear threat of hate speech, the targeting of specific groups and attempts to create danger," he said.
'Manipulative narrative' against EU
Wawrykiewicz also warned against what he described as deliberate disinformation aimed at undermining the European Union itself.
"The entire manipulative narrative portraying the European Union as some artificial construct is also a threat," he said. "It is deliberately directed at the EU in order to disintegrate it, break it apart from within and destroy it."
He described the EU as "the world's largest democratic body" and "the holder of the world’s biggest single market," arguing that this makes it a target for authoritarian states.
“The European Union opposes autocratic states and therefore poses the greatest threat to them, which is why they are trying with increased intensity to break it apart as a common project," Wawrykiewicz said.
Poles view online disinformation as their country’s most serious risk, ahead of terrorism and infectious diseases, according to a global survey earlier this year by the Pew Research Center, a US think tank.
Experts have warned that social media companies have the capacity to shape worldviews and manipulate voters, especially younger users.
Polish Deputy Digital Affairs Minister Paweł Olszewski has told reporters that Poland cannot eliminate disinformation but aims to limit its harms, adding that authoritarian regimes such as Russia and Belarus seed false narratives that reach large audiences.
(gs)
Source: tvp.info