Polish government proposes criminal code changes and sanctions law that could curb speech

In a recent YouTube commentary, Łukasz Warzecha criticised two pending government measures that could limit freedom of speech. The first seeks to amend article 117 of the criminal code by adding a clause that would punish anyone who publicly denies or downplays an aggressive war, a step he says extends the already restrictive paragraph three. The second is a draft sanctions act being processed in the Sejm, which would enable the designation of persons or entities for "interference and manipulation" of information deemed a threat to national security, but provides no clear definition of those terms.

Warzecha questions how prosecutors and courts would assess "minimising the significance" of a war and who would decide what constitutes foreign interference. He also raises concerns about whether these rules would apply only to the Russia-Ukraine conflict or to all wars.