Biznes Fakty
Deputy Prime Minister: Ursula von der Leyen made a huge mistake
In an interview with the British Times, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski stated that the Polish government remains committed to its stance and will advocate for the implementation of a digital tax, even though European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has retracted plans for its introduction across the European Union.
Despite being the United States’ closest ally in Europe, Poland has found itself at odds with Washington over its commitment to enforce a digital services tax on major tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta, as highlighted by the British „Times.”
„Von der Leyen made a significant error”
During the interview, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the necessity to „advocate for legal equality and tax fairness in Poland.”
– I cannot accept that large technology firms with distinct tax frameworks are paying considerably less than Polish enterprises for the same services – Gawkowski clarified.
He further asserted that „von der Leyen made a significant error by retracting the digital tax.”
„The repercussions should amount to millions of euros”
The Times inquired about the Deputy Prime Minister’s thoughts on the potential shutdown of the social media platform X in Poland, following the flooding of the site with offensive posts regarding Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk by the AI chatbot Grok in July.
Gawkowski responded to the British publication by stating that freedom of expression is fundamental but must adhere to legal boundaries that prohibit hate speech and threats to life. He stressed that „it is in the interest of the state to terminate platforms that breach these laws.”
„I have urged the European Commission to impose penalties for the incidents that occurred. We cannot simply overlook this; there must be repercussions. And these repercussions should be counted in the millions of euros,” he added.
Gawkowski on cyberattacks targeting Poland
The Deputy Prime Minister also mentioned that Poland faces around 300 Russian cyberattacks daily. He assured that the nation is ready for Russian efforts to disrupt its water or energy infrastructures.
Gawkowski indicated that the Russian intelligence agency (GRU) plans to triple its cyberattacks on Polish infrastructure by 2025 and will also increase its workforce threefold. He noted that last year alone, there were over 100,000 hacking attempts recorded against Polish computer networks, averaging 300 cyberattacks per day.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, „these could evolve into systematic attacks aimed at disrupting water or electricity supplies across the country.”
The politician also mentioned that Polish military counterintelligence recently assisted the UK and the US in uncovering a Russian hacking unit affiliated with the GRU, which had developed advanced malware to steal Microsoft account credentials.
