New regulation proposal on online harmful content for minors

Poland's Ministry of Digital Affairs is proposing a new law aimed at limiting minors' access to harmful online content. The new draft includes regulatory implications for digital media operators, streaming platforms, internet service providers, and content creators.

Proposed restrictions

The proposed law focuses on preventing minors from accessing harmful content, specifically pornographic content. The Ministry has outlined several key obligations for entities involved in disseminating online content.

Scope of potential obligations

The proposed regulation introduces a set of duties that will have significant operational and compliance implications for entities involved in disseminating online content. The draft provisions emphasize proactive protection of minors in digital spaces and provide for three key aspects of the proposed regulation:

• Age verification tools that may become mandatory for accessing pornographic content.
• Risk analysis mechanisms to assess the likelihood of minors accessing harmful content.
• Potential liability for non-compliance, including for foreign platforms targeting Polish users.

Identification and blocking system

• The draft law requires platforms and service providers to monitor and restrict access to pornographic content for minors.
• This includes implementing age verification mechanisms to ensure that minors cannot access such content.
• This introduces preventive regulation rather than punitive measures, similar to the EU Digital Services Act but focused on child and adolesence protection.

Age verification and filtering mechanisms

• The law mandates technical requirements for implementing age verification tools to prevent access by underage users to pornographic content.
• Although the exact technical standards are yet to be defined, platforms may face pressure to adopt robust, privacy-compliant solutions — for example, third-party age assurance technologies.
• The law imposes a duty of diligence — requiring platforms to take “reasonable and proportionate” steps to prevent minors from accessing harmful content. A failure to act could result in regulatory fines, reputational damage, and even civil liability in cases of demonstrable harm.

Applicability to foreign service providers

Importantly, the scope of the regulation is not limited to entities physically operating in Poland. Extraterritorial application is expected — meaning that non-Polish platforms or service providers will be subject to these rules if:

• They target Polish users (e.g., by offering Polish language content or accepting payments in PLN); or
• ·Their services are accessible to minors in Poland, even without active marketing.
   
  This aligns with the EU's broader digital regulatory framework, which increasingly holds foreign operators accountable for the online harms experienced by local users.

What's next?

• The draft is currently undergoing internal government and public consultations. The Ministry has signaled openness to further negotiation of definitions and enforcement mechanisms.
• Contrary to the original intent of the draft, the Ministry abandoned a broad definition of ‘harmful content’ because a broader consensus on this issue could not be developed.
• Exceptions have been dropped for scientific content, educational material, artistic expression or content that already constitutes an offence.
• Another assumption that ultimately did not make it into the draft was the obligation to introduce extensive content moderation mechanisms. Instead, the draft law emphasises age verification and risk analysis.
• The current draft provides for age verification specifically for access to pornographic content, excluding methods based on self-declaration and biometrics.

We will have to wait for the development and the outcome of the legislative process.

Operational Implications:

• Platforms must implement mechanisms to block or restrict access to pornographic content. The law requires "reasonable and proportionate" measures to prevent minors' access, with penalties for non-compliance.
• The law applies to foreign entities if they target Polish users or their services are accessible to Polish minors, aligning with the EU's digital regulatory framework.

Consequently, international platforms — especially those in the VOD, social media, and content-sharing sectors — should begin mapping their exposure to the Polish market and assessing whether their content governance and child protection frameworks are compliant or adaptable to this regulatory environment.