Article 6 years in court fighting against arbitrary censorship. What about user empowerment promised by the DSA? In March 2024, the District Court in Warsaw ruled that Meta Ireland Inc. must restore the pages and content published by the Polish CSO, Civil Drug Policy Initiative (SIN), on Instagram and Facebook. 07.05.2025 Text
Article Panoptykon Foundation challenges the data retention regime in Poland: Telecom companies requested to delete activists’ data Panoptykon Foundation supports activists and attorney-at-law Artur Kula to demand four biggest telecom companies in Poland to delete data stored for the purpose of law enforcement in the last 12 months. 24.04.2025 Text
Article European Court of Human Rights: secret surveillance in Poland violates citizens’ privacy rights According to the precedent judgment announced today by the European Court of Human Rights, the operational-control regime, the retention of communications data, and the secret-surveillance regime under the Anti-Terrorism Act in Poland violate the right to privacy. The activists from Poland’s Panoptykon Foundation and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, and the human rights lawyer who filed the application, expect the government to change the respective legislation without further delay. 28.05.2024 Text
Article Win against Facebook. Giant not allowed to censor content at will By blocking the accounts and groups of Społeczna Inicjatywa Narkopolityki (SIN, the Civil Society Drug Policy Initiative), Meta has infringed on the organization’s personal rights. On Wednesday, a Polish court issued a watershed decision in a case supported by the Panoptykon Foundation, thereby confirming that Internet platforms cannot block users at will. The court also confirmed that banned users have the right to sue in their own country. 14.03.2024 Text
Article Anxious about your health? Facebook won’t let you forget There is little point in telling Facebook which posts you do not want to see – it will not listen. 07.12.2023 Text
Article Polish Senate calls Pegasus illegal and demands scrutiny over secret services The Senate of Poland concluded its investigation on the use of Pegasus by Polish secret services to spy on ia. opposition politicians and unapologetic public persons. They declared that Pegasus should be considered illegal in Poland and the secret services should be put under strict and independent scrutiny. Doubts also arose around the fairness of Poland's 2019 elections. 12.09.2023 Text
Article Scroll more, sleep less. A Black Mirror-inspired truck in Warsaw advertises a disturbing social network... that doesn’t exist “Our algorithm will suck you in”, “Scroll more, sleep less”. These are slogans from a “new, revolutionary social platform” Vlop!, being advertised on a mysterious, Black Mirror-like LED truck, cruising the Polish capital city. In reality, the platform does not exist, and was made up as part of a social campaign highlighting the actual harmful effects of BigTech companies that operate today. 31.08.2023 Text
Article One Act to Rule Them All We enter the final stage of the negotiations of the AI Act – the first comprehensive law regulating the development and implementation of artificial intelligence. The lack of transparency of the trilogue and intense corporate are reasons to worry. But fortunately – thanks to the efforts of civil society – there are also reasons for optimism. Will the AI Act eventually promote and protect fundamental rights and freedoms? 23.08.2023 Text