Combating disinformation

“Propaganda is one of the basic instruments of the empire of evil”, said Prime Minister Morawiecki after the meeting with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. He also remarked that the efforts of Google and all its communication channels are a crucial part of the fight for the truth. The fight for authentic information to also reach Russia and its citizens.
 
The Prime Minister also stressed the role of actions aimed at sustaining the morale of the fighting Ukrainians: “they are also fighting for Europe’s freedom to ensure that no conditions may be imposed upon it by brute force in the future”, he explained. 

“We will invest a further 10 million dollars into partnerships with civil society organisations to support fact-checking”, said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. “Our unit that fights online threats will also create new technical capabilities to combat disinformation and will teach people how to recognise disinformation”, said Pichai. “200 channels and more than 2,000 videos violated our policy. We are also blocking channels and apps associated with Russia’s state-funded media”, he added. 

Google to donate funds to organisations helping Ukrainian refugees 

Google has announced that a donation of nearly PLN 40 million will be made to local organisations helping Ukrainian refugees arriving in Poland. The funds will be used to organise both immediate humanitarian relief and provide assistance to refugees in their initial weeks in Poland, as well as to support their longer-term needs. 

“Google has already donated more than USD 35 million to aid refugee organisations to date, including USD 10 million in grants to non-governmental organisations helping refugees arriving in Poland”, Pichai said.

Donor conference to aid Ukraine

“We want to help our neighbours and we are already doing so in an unprecedented way. With our hearts open, we help rapidly integrate children, young people and women into normal social life. Not only is this a major organisational effort but it also costs money”, said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki upon announcing a donor conference to support Ukraine, which is to take place after Easter and include both businesses and state actors. 

Google has announced that it will be participating in the event. 

Google in Poland

Google has operated in Poland since 2005 and currently employs more than 1,000 people. Since 2015, a Google regional office has been operating in Warsaw, responsible for establishing relationships with business partners and conducting training courses for enterprises. The company has also established in Poland a research and development centre to support its technological projects. Moreover, Warsaw houses one of the world’s seven Google Startup Hubs – Campus Warsaw.

On 7 March, Google announced that it will become the owner of The Warsaw HUB, an office complex in Warsaw’s Wola district, where it has been renting space, including for its cloud technology development centre, since last year. The value of investments in the purchase of the complex and further development of the centre will amount to nearly PLN 2.7 billion.