Poland moves to combat medical disinformation and online hate

Poland is considering legislative changes aimed at combating medical disinformation and protecting healthcare professionals from online aggression. The proposed amendment to the Patient Rights Act, colloquially referred to as ‘Lex Szarlatan’, seeks to limit services that contradict current medical knowledge. Under this law, the Patient Rights Ombudsman would gain the authority to issue public warnings regarding dangerous practices and implement temporary orders to cease specific activities before proceedings are finalized.

Parallel to these medical regulations, the Ministry of Digital Affairs is working on a government project to amend the law on electronic services. This initiative follows concerns raised by the Supreme Medical Chamber regarding the escalation of online hate speech against doctors, which has increasingly led to physical attacks in medical facilities. The proposed legal mechanisms aim to provide law enforcement with tools to respond more rapidly to illegal online content and cyber threats.