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It is supposed to be a refuge from “censorship”, a kind of pro-government Facebook: the Polish platform Albicla.
The name stands for the Polish phrase “Let everything be clear”, an allusion to the alleged suppression of mainly conservative opinions in traditional social media such as Facebook or Twitter.
What should look like a fight against illiberal tendencies of large tech companies is, in the case of the Polish platform, an attempt to bring the discourse on social media into line with government.
A fight against freedom in the name of freedom, if you will.
Albicla was founded by pro-government Polish journalist Tomasz Sakiewicz after former US President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter.
With the promise against “censorship” on mainstream platforms, Albicla reminds of the American social media platform Parler, which is also aimed at right-wing conservatives and was removed from the Apple and Google stores after the storm on the US Capitol at the beginning of January .
If you want to understand why forces close to the government in Poland are suddenly calling for a fight for free debate, you first have to know the discourse in the USA.
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There Parler describes itself as an online platform focused on freedom of speech.
In reality it was a kind of Twitter where everything is allowed.
The relatively small platform largely dispensed with regulating content and did little to counter hate speech, threats and the spread of false information.
In view of the increasingly tough crackdown by Twitter and Facebook against calls for violence and conspiracy theories, Trump supporters have increasingly migrated to Parler in recent months.
Many Trump supporters argue with their rights of
first amendment
, which includes free speech.
It is much broader than freedom of expression in Germany, and also protects the assertion of false facts, i.e. fake news.
Statements that would be seen as seditious or unconstitutional elsewhere are largely legal in the United States.
The argument of some conservatives to be “censored” in the mainstream media can now be found far beyond America's borders - including in Poland.
"[Our portal] is the direct response to growing censorship on the Internet," said Sakiewicz, editor-in-chief of the pro-government newspaper Gazeta Polska, in a statement.
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But Poland's attempt to develop a government-friendly version of Facebook - without the moderation of content - started with problems.
Only a few hours after the launch, Albicla.com was faced with heavy criticism with regard to programming errors and data protection and security deficiencies.
For example, the cybersecurity company Niebezpiecznik.pl and other sites have found that users could change the design of the website.
Activists took advantage of this: In one case, the logo was replaced by a rainbow, the symbol of the LGBTQ movement, which is under massive pressure in Poland.
In another case, a user reported that he had obtained the data from ten thousand Albicla accounts.
Another said he was the administrator of the site and was able to post from the official Albicla account.
And another accessed email addresses that had been used to set up profiles.
It was also said that the platform had deleted the accounts of journalists critical of the government;
however, they were later restored.
Revelations of defects are "lies"
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Sakiewicz defended himself against the criticism on Twitter.
He denied that there were any leaks and called the exposure of the shortcomings a "lie".
After the chaotic first days, Albicla would be better equipped to manage the hundreds of thousands of users and their accounts.
Experts, however, emphasized that users should be prepared for further data leaks in view of the critical problems that arise early on.
"The biggest mistake - not so much of the platform, but of the people who set it up - was the failure to perform security tests, which are now mandatory before the start of a project," said Piotr Konieczny, founder of Niebezpiecznik.pl.
The Albicla homepage currently only displays posts that have been created by the site's administrators.
A sidebar on the home page shows five "active users", all of whom are from media organizations administered or otherwise connected to Sakiewicz.
The “recently registered” section appears to only include troll accounts.
"It's a shame that everything you want to know about [this] new initiative is fake news," wrote Sakiewicz in an email reply to the WELT partner publication "Politico".
The Albicla controversy has in part to do with its founders and their ties to Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS).
Sakiewicz is one of the main stakeholders in the company that Albicla owns: Słowo Niezależne (“Independent Word”).
Another major shareholder is Srebrna (silver) - a company close to the PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczyński.
Kaczyński is Deputy Prime Minister in the government led by Mateusz Morawiecki.
It is Kaczyński who is widely regarded as Poland's top decision maker.
Despite claims that it is being harassed by hostile media, the PiS has long since built its own media empire.
The flagship is the public broadcaster TVP, which the ruling party has converted into a strongly pro-government propaganda magazine.
The ruling party also controls public broadcasting and has several sympathetic private media companies.
But that was apparently not enough for the government: The fight for interpretative sovereignty has long been taking place on social media.
Collaboration: Carolina Drüten
This article comes from a cooperation with "Politico".
Click on these links, leave welt.de and land on the articles at politico.eu.
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