123 Sixth Chapter How (not) to regulate online speech: the polish draft on the freedom of expression in social media Adam KrzywoŃ German Research Institute for Public Administration (FÖV) University of Warsaw SUMMARY: I. SOCIAL MEDIA AND PARADIGM SHIFT IN COMMUNICATION. II. STATE’S POSITIVE OBLIGATIONS AND ONLINE HORIZONTAL RELATIONS. III. THE LAWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN EUROPE. IV. POLISH DRAFT ON THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN SOCIAL MEDIA. V. CONCLUDING REMARKS. VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY. I. SOCIAL MEDIA AND PARADIGM SHIFT IN COMMUNICATION It has become a truism that, on the one hand, online speech causes a paradigm shift in communication. Internet and social media (Internet platforms) positively impact individual and collective rights since these modern technologies constitute one of the essential foundations of modern democratic society and its development 216 . On the other, the very nature of the Internet creates a number of opportunities for its unlawful use. Many private actors may employ it for societal fragmentation, polarisation, discrimination and political disinformation 217 . Together with this transformation, the worldwide growing importance of the role of private actors is evident. Social media companies are becoming critical institutions in the public (digital) sphere, exercise substantial power in the area of freedom of expression and turn into arbiters of free expression. Due to their capability to control the fow of information, social media interfere with the freedom of expression 216. ECtHR Stoll v. Switzerland (69698/01), judgment of 10.12.2007 at [101]. 217. SUNSTEIN, C. R., #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media, Princeton University Press 2017, p. 13; VAIDHYANATHAN, S., Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, Oxford University Press 2018. 16506-2121q4.indd 123 16506-2121q4.indd 123 03-11-2022 19:36:02 03-11-2022 19:36:02