Gawkowski wants to introduce dangerous rules. The Minister of Digitalization will be able to block specific websites and IP addresses on the internet

Digital Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski has proposed dangerous cybersecurity rules. His predecessor, Janusz Cieszyński of PiS, once announced similar regulations in 2021, but withdrew from them. Both then and now they give the minister permission to block connections on the internet. The cabinet must adopt the final draft of the National Cybersecurity System Act at the end of September. Public consultations are now underway.

The Gaming Commission Act has been in progress in Poland since 2020. This concerns the implementation of an EU directive that strongly hinders network freedom: the Toolbox 5G regulations and the NIS 2 directive. In 2021, then Minister of Digitalization Janusz Cieszyński proposed changing the applicable cybersecurity rules. They authorized the minister to block connections to specified addresses in the network and specific servers – indicating the IP number.

The 2021 bill assumed that art. 67b. 1. say that:

In the event of a critical incident, the minister responsible for automation can issue a safety order. (…) A protection order is issued by administrative decision for the duration of the coordination of the handling of a critical incident, not exceeding two years

– we read in Cieszyński’s proposals. The security order was immediately enforceable. it was also planned to create a strategic security network and establish the Polskie 5G company, that is, a state wholesale 5G operator.

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Ultimately, after a wave of criticism, the government withdrew from many regulations and presented a completely changed project in 2023. The Government Plenipotentiary for Cyber ​​Security would only have the authority to: issuing alerts about critical incidents and recommending specific behavior. He could make recommendations to strengthen the cybersecurity level of the information systems of the entities of the national cybersecurity system, and these entities were required to take these recommendations into account during the risk management process. The idea of ​​a state-owned 5G network was also ruined. However, this project was also withdrawn.

Gawkowski borrowed from Cieszyński

It turns out that the current head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, returned in 2021 to the regulations proposed by Minister Janusz Cieszyński. The draft law on the National Cybersecurity System drawn up at his ministry and presented on April 24 contains the same regulations.

The Minister of Digital Affairs will be given the power to order the blocking of internet connections. With specific URLs (websites) or IP addresses (servers). It is also a law that prohibits the distribution of software (e.g. applications). Immediate feasibility

– we read in the article about X by Łukasz Olejnik, who has been dealing with the issue of Gaming Commission regulation for years.

Gawkowski’s project, which is currently undergoing public consultations, will be approved by the government at the end of September. It also provides for the extension of art. 67 (as in Cieszyński’s idea) to the law on the Gaming Commission. Items need to be added. 67a–67k. For example, art. 67b section 15 says that:

The minister responsible for automation recognizes the supplier of equipment or software as a risk supplier by decision if the supplier poses a serious threat to defence, state security or public safety and order, or to people’s lives and health.

There is little information in the media about the regulations being prepared, yet they will apply to thousands of Polish companies who are unaware of the obligations imposed on them. Not to mention the network users will be surprised in a moment.

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