Poland’s Council of Ministers has “adopted a draft law on protecting minors from accessing pornographic content online” including new regulations that regulations will require “service providers that provide such content to implement effective age verification mechanisms,” according to a statement published Tuesday by the Ministry of Digital Affairs.
Compared to much of Europe, Poland has been slow to enact age verification requirements, a fact referenced in the statement from the Ministry of Digital Affairs.
“We are taking responsibility for a problem that has been widely known for years, yet has remained virtually unsolved,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski. “Our law is based on a very simple principle: if in the real world we don’t let children into stores with adult content, we can’t pretend this problem doesn’t exist online.”
In the statement, the Ministry asserted that adult websites currently “are not effectively protected against access by minors” and that “research shows that unrestricted access to pornographic content by minors can lead to addiction, reduced concentration and motivation to learn, and disruptions in the development of healthy peer relationships.”
“Under the new regulations, all websites that host adult content will be required to effectively verify the user’s age,” said Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Michal Gramatyka. “This law is crucial because websites containing such content are currently not effectively protected against access, often accidental, by minors.”
The Ministry said the goal of the bill was to limit minors’ access to pornographic content online, including accidental exposure. Under the draft legislation, websites that offers such content will be required to implement age verification mechanisms that will effectively prevent minors from accessing the content – but the bill doesn’t impose any specific technical requirements or solutions on service providers. Instead, the legislation “specifies which age verification mechanisms are recommended.”
“Online age verification must be effective, but also fully anonymous,” said Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Dariusz Standerski. “Therefore, we recommend the European Digital Identity Wallet as one of the recommended solutions. It’s a mechanism that confirms age without revealing any personal data. The service provider doesn’t know who the user is; they only know that they are of age. The wallet issuer, however, doesn’t receive information about the services on which the age verification was used.”
Standerski added that the Ministry plans to “launch secure and anonymous age verification by the end of 2026.”
Under the proposed law, a register of noncompliant domains will be established. Once a domain has been entered into the registry, telecommunications service providers would be required to block access to the domain. Entities that fail to comply with the age verification requirements could face fines under the new law, as well.
To become law, the bill must clear Poland’s parliament and be approved by President Karol Nawrocki.
