The official address of facebook poland in the National Court Register is 12 Bielańska Street, Warsaw. The Senator office building is located there. You have to check the register, because I did not see any address or telephone number on facebook’s website. So I went to the address listed in the KRS and wanted to arrange a meeting.
Reception directed me to the appropriate floor. And there came the disappointment, because the address is fake. There is no one from facebook there.
“We are only a correspondence address, and nothing more. We are not authorized to provide the address; that is what the contract requires of us,” said a woman from Penteris. However, I managed to establish from other people in the building that facebook has a physical headquarters in Warsaw: at Rondo ONZ, in the Rondo 1 office building.
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So I went there. At the main reception desk, I learned that I needed a pass. And I would only get one if I had a meeting arranged with a specific employee. So I asked about facebook’s reception desk, saying that I wanted to get there. It turned out that it was also inaccessible. It was not possible to call either. The woman at the main reception desk was simply prohibited from connecting calls.
However, I noticed a man who came over and said that he had an appointment with facebook. He showed his ID, the woman called somewhere, and after a moment handed him a pass. I noticed that he was going to the 30th floor. Now I know: facebook has its physical headquarters on the 30th floor of the Rondo 1 office building in Warsaw. I should add that on the building owner’s website this floor is not described, although the other floors include information about which companies are located there.
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While in the Rondo 1 building, I called a representative of the Burson agency, which handles facebook’s public relations in Poland. I briefly explained the story and said that I would like to meet with anyone to talk about the blocking of Polish media outlets. She called me back shortly afterward and said that there was no one at facebook who could meet with me at that time. And to meet with anyone at all, even a secretary, you have to make an appointment. The problem is that there is no telephone number, email address, etc. All that remains is to write letters. Ordinary letters, on paper. However, I received a promise from the facebook PR representative that she would check whether an online meeting might be possible someday.
After returning to Bolesławiec, I emailed the PR representative about a remote conversation. The next day I received a reply that, unfortunately, an online meeting would not be possible. I was assured, however—“once in a while we organize meetings related to this, so I will allow myself to contact you then,” to quote her.
There has been silence to this day; several days have passed.
I am extremely surprised when I read facebook Poland’s financial statement. Its income—not revenue—is several dozen million złotys for a single year. facebook should therefore be able to afford employing at least a few people to answer telephone calls or fix algorithm errors, because that is how facebook explains banning Polish media outlets. I do not believe in errors in this case; I rather think it is deliberate.
The latest example that comes to mind is Rafał Brzoska, of the parcel lockers. He repeatedly reported advertisements violating his personal life, and facebook did little about it. Because it makes money from those advertisements.
It is scandalous that such a huge company operating on the Polish market has no helpline, customer service office, or anyone who would actually solve problems. In my opinion, the Americans disregard us, Polish women and men. They make money from us, collect our data, yet do not even protect us from hate.
I hope the Sejm and Senate will put this right, and that the coalition’s politicians (KO and Third Way) will get their act together. Otherwise, once again we will have to act on our own.
We will have to go up to that 30th floor and stage some kind of protest there.