Poland forms Center for Combating Disinformation under Paweł Olszewski

Center established by executive order

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk signed Ordinance No. 59 on 29 September 2026 to establish the government Center for Combating Disinformation (Centrum Walki z Dezinformacją). The legal act was published in the official journal Monitor Polski and entered into force on 30 September 2026. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski announced the decision in Warsaw during the 8th Cybersecurity Forum, an event organized under the auspices of the digital ministry. Paweł Olszewski, a deputy minister of digital affairs and Civic Coalition lawmaker responsible for national cybersecurity and information resilience, was designated to lead the new institution.

Operational mandate and agency structure

The center functions as an operational support unit designed to coordinate state responses against foreign information operations and establish systemic counter-disinformation frameworks. Its duties include monitoring information flows, publishing official alerts on identified disinformation campaigns, and drafting analytical reports that outline threat sources and national response mechanisms. The institution will also launch a dedicated website to address recurring false narratives and issue regular recommendations to public administration bodies. Personnel across the security apparatus will staff the center, including representatives from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Ministry of National Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister's Chancellery, the Government Security Centre, the National Police Headquarters, national CSIRT teams, military branches, public prosecutors, and special intelligence services. Olszewski will appoint an administrative secretary and request managerial and operational contact officers across all participating state bodies.

Disinformation was, is, and will be. No matter where it appears, we must cooperate and react in a different, effective way. The Center for Combating Disinformation is to build resilience: not only technical, related to cybersecurity, but above all the mental resilience of Poles to the threats that the world faces today.

Strategy consultation and targeted domestic groups

A draft strategy for countering disinformation has been formulated and will be submitted for consultations with civil society organizations. Olszewski stated that the strategy prioritizes civil liberties, while arguing that freedom of speech cannot serve as a justification for hate speech or Russian propaganda. The deputy minister declared that the center will publicly identify domestic figures and networks that translate Russian narratives into Polish to damage state security, explicitly pointing to politician Grzegorz Braun and the Kamraci movement.

I will personally point my finger at those who translate from Russian to Polish the narratives that harm Poles and strike at state security.

Institutional debate and critical reactions

Government spokesperson Adam Szłapka presented the body as Europe's first joint counter-disinformation center, while Gawkowski placed Poland among the top five strategic partners globally in cybersecurity, referencing cooperation with the United States. The initiative drew immediate pushback from opposition figures and policy commentators. Former government plenipotentiary for information space security Stanisław Żaryn described the center as a facade advisory body, noting that several European countries have already advanced further in combating disinformation. Opposition lawmaker Janusz Cieszyński and commentator Adam Czarnecki referenced activist Jakub Kocjan following the announcement. Additionally, conservative legal think tank Ordo Iuris expressed concerns that the institution will lead to state arbitration over worldview disputes and the suppression of views inconvenient for the authorities.