Legal basis for the use of social media by the Polish public  authorities: Case of the Police Cover Image

Nie pytają cię o imię, walczą z ostrym cieniem mgły. Podstawy prawne wykorzystania mediów społecznościowych przez polskie organy władzy publicznej na przykładzie Policji
Legal basis for the use of social media by the Polish public authorities: Case of the Police

Author(s): Paweł Waszkiewicz, Magdalena Tomaszewska-Michalak, Błażej Stromczyński, Stanisław Rabczuk
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: social media; profiles; police; soft law; public administration; freedom of information laws; media społecznościowe; profile; Policja; soft law; administracja publiczna; informacja publiczna

Summary/Abstract: Social media are used on a daily basis by public administration agencies in interactions with the public. The benefits of this form of contact have also been recognized by the Police, which maintains fan pages on the most popular social media sites. However, to date there has been no deeper reflection neither about the legal grounds for public authorities’ social media presence, nor about principles which they should obey while running their social media profiles. Using the Police as an example, this article discusses the legal basis for maintaining profiles of public administration agencies in social media. Authors analyze the issue within the framework of existing law and the views of scholars and commentators, confronting them with the legal basis provided by the Police departments. The article presents de lege ferenda conclusions regarding the so-called soft law.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 89
  • Page Range: 386-408
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: Polish