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Official suggests Polish president check social media security after odd tweet from private account

FILE - Poland's President Andrzej Duda adjusts his headphones during a press conference at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. Poland's minister of digital affairs suggested Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, that President Andrzej Duda check the security of access to his social accounts after a bizarre tweet went out that was almost immediately removed. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru, File)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s minister of digital affairs suggested Friday that President Andrzej Duda check the security of access to his social accounts after a bizarre tweet went out that was almost immediately removed.

The tweet published Thursday on Duda’s private account said: “Tell him to ask his wife what ‘having balls’ means. She knows!”

The tweet was quickly deleted, but internet users took screenshots that were shared, creating amusement but also criticism that the head of state wasn’t being cautious enough with his online behavior.

Duda’s office has not explained what the message published on X, formerly Twitter, referred to, nor did it explain how it was published.

The government, led by Duda’s political rival, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, suggested the president should exercise greater caution and said it could offer security assistance.


“Due to the fact that an unusual entry appeared on President Andrzej Duda’s account on the X website, which disappeared quite quickly, I asked the president to check the security of access to his social accounts,” Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski tweeted.

In the past, Duda has engaged with anonymous users of social media. He also took calls from Russian pranksters who pretended to be the United Nations secretary-general and the French president.