Digital childhood under supervision: Poland addresses online protection of children | In Principle

The report “Children’s internet 2026,” published in June 2026, finds that 55% of children in Poland age 7–12 regularly use the biggest social media sites and messaging apps (although they are not intended for this age group), and 32% of children age 7–14 have had contact with websites or apps with pornographic content. Algorithm-driven platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok exert a real influence over the lives of youngsters, but only recently has active control of these media become the subject of regulation. Currently work is underway in Poland on several legislative proposals which aim to significantly alter the legal landscape in this area, although so far they fall short of creating a coherent system for protection of minors online.

The world sharpens the legal protections for children online

Last year the world took note of an unprecedented change in the Australian legal system, when the Social Media Minimum Age Act 2024 entered into force on 10 December 2025. This act limits the access of children below age 16 to creation and use of social media accounts. It also requires platforms to take measures to prevent the creation or keeping of accounts already opened by persons below age 16.

The debate sparked by these changes led to the creation of further initiatives. The British Prime Minister at the time, Keir Starmer, announced the planned introduction in 2027 of a regulation that would limit access by persons below age 16 to the biggest platforms, such as TikTok, YouTube and X. In July 2026 the British government also announced plans to introduce an “online curfew” for 16- and 17-year-olds. It would involve, among other measures, default switching off of access to social media from midnight to 6 am, disabling notices during this period, and limiting the use of addictive functions such as auto-play. These restrictions would apply by default, but users could turn them off in their account settings (UK Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, “Growing up in the online world: Government response”).

In 2025 the European Commission issued its Guidelines on measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors online, which would permit EU member states to individually set age limits for access to social media. The mechanism for secure and effective age verification of users would be the EU Digital Identity Wallet, which enables the user to provide access to only certain defined types of information to obtain access to a given service—for example, to show that the user has met a minimum age.

Polish law does not currently have any provision expressly setting a “digital age of majority” for use of social media, but the Ministry of National Education does have plans to set such a boundary. It claims that the aim is to restrict access to social media until a child reaches a certain age—currently suggested to be age 15. At a parliamentary conference in June 2026, the Committee for Children and Youth announced that work was underway on an act introducing a ban on use of social media below a certain age, but the ministry has yet to release any draft proposal on this issue.

Age verification without self-declaration

The regulation closest to the concept of introducing a ban on access to harmful online content for minors, and with a chance to become law in the near future, is government bill no. 2697 on protection of minors against access to pornographic content on the internet. The stated aim of the bill is that a service provider enabling access to pornographic content would have to apply an age verification mechanism and block minors’ access to such content. Such mechanism could not rely on a user’s self-declaration of their age. The bill was filed with the Sejm on 9 June 2026 and since 17 June 2026 has remained at the stage of work within the Committee for Digitalisation, Innovation and New Technologies and the Committee for Children and Youth.

Citing the aforementioned guidelines from the European Commission, the bill suggests that age verification may rely in particular on the use of an electronic certification of an attribute confirming the user’s age under the EU Digital Identity Wallet. The proponent predicts that minors may try to circumvent the act using VPN tools, but also points out that VPN devices are generally paid services, which poses a barrier to minors, and free versions have greatly limited bandwidth.

Under the proposal, violations would be exposed to financial sanctions:

• For servicer providers failing to apply an age verification mechanism and block minors’ access to such content, a fine from PLN 10,000 to 1,000,000
• For internet service providers failing to comply with their duties such as redirecting connections to domains not meeting the age verification requirements, and service providers and internet service providers hindering inspections in this respect, a fine of up to PLN 250,000.

The authority for oversight and enforcement of the rules would be the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), entitled to conduct inspections and proceedings and impose fines.

It should also be borne in mind that there is already an instrument in Polish law for protecting children against the most harmful content. Under Art. 200 §3 of the Penal Code, anyone who displays pornographic content to a minor below age 15, or provides them with objects of this nature, or disseminates pornographic content in a manner enabling such a minor to familiarise themselves with such content, is subject to imprisonment for up to three years. At the pre-legislative stage for the new proposal, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office pointed out the discrepancy between the age threshold in force under the criminal provision (15 years) and the threshold proposed in the bill (“minors,” i.e. anyone under age 18). In response, the proponent stated that the bill is intended to supplement the current law involving protection of minors, and that the bill was also consulted with the Ministry of Justice, whose remit covers criminal matters.

Further initiatives

Changes in the protection of youngsters online also involve controlling the time and place where they can use the internet. Starting 1 September 2026, the act of 3 July 2026 amending the Education Law introduced a ban on the use of cell phones and connected electronic devices in preschools and primary schools, while also allowing for banning or setting other conditions for use of such devices in secondary schools.

This ban covers pupils throughout their stay on school grounds, during classes and breaks, and also during educational activities held offsite. But the act provides for clear exceptions to the ban: use of devices is permitted with the consent of the teacher for educational purposes, based on written consent of the school principal due to illness, disability or other special needs of the pupil, and also in case of immediate danger to the life or health of persons on school grounds.

The regulation also has an educational component, as the act indicates the importance of cooperation between schools and parents in complying with the bans, and also in inculcating attitudes among pupils of digital hygiene and responsible use of IT and communications technologies.

A further step toward increased protection of minors on the internet is the continuation of work on adapting the Polish legal system to the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065). The aim of the DSA is to achieve a safer and more transparent online environment by introducing rules for the liability of online platforms for content published on the platforms, and strengthening the rights of internet users, including youngsters. A presidential veto in January 2026 delayed the process of implementing the changes in Poland, leaving it among the group of EU member states that have yet to bring their national regulations into line with the DSA.

The government has approved two bills in this area. The first, bill no. 2694, would make procedural and structural changes to national law as well as designate national regulators:

• The President of the Office of Electronic Communications as the coordinator for digital services
• The Chair of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) as the entity responsible for oversight of platforms offering video content and for considering requests to block illegal content posted there
• The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) as the entity responsible for protection of consumers in this area.

This act passed the Sejm, and the Senate made an amendment, which was adopted by the Sejm on 4 September 2026. The act will now be forwarded to the President for signature.

The second, bill no. 2693, focuses on introducing a national procedure enabling the issuance of orders to block access to content deemed illegal under the DSA. The catalogue of prohibited acts indicated in the bill covers, in particular, the offences defined in Art. 200 §§ 3 & 5, Art. 200a and Art. 200b of the Penal Code, i.e. offences directly targeting minors, including offences involving sexual exploitation of children. An order blocking access to content whose dissemination may constitute a criminal offence referred to in the provisions cited above could be made immediately enforceable, which would allow the content to be blocked swiftly. This bill is currently awaiting its third reading in the Sejm.

Summary

The overall picture shows that the protection of children on the internet in Poland is developing in a fragmentary fashion, across different sectors and channels. From the perspective of legal and business practice, this makes it necessary to monitor in real time various legislative processes, whose final shape remains open on many points, including key effective dates and specific duties of digital service providers.

Marta Reysner, Karolina Romanowska, adwokat, Data Protection practice, Wardyński & Partners