EU law is threatening online free speech with Article 13
Recent European regulation is threatening an Internet presence of many companies. When the EU brought the General Data Protection Agency (GDPR) into effect last month, it practically forced all firms that do business in the region to rewrite their privacy laws.
Published: July 3, 2018, 6:11 am
A new copyright regulation is threatening to upend how the internet functions.
Young Poles have taken to the streets to protest EU plans on limiting free speech online in several cities in Poland, as the proposed EU directive on copyright protection will force tech giants to filter content for copyright infringement.
The protesters argue that the EU is waging war on memes.
Young Poles have taken to the streets to protest EU plans on limiting #FreeSpeech online.
The proposed EU directive on copyright protection will force tech giants to filter content for copyright infringement.
The protesters argue that the EU is waging war on memes.#StopACTA2 pic.twitter.com/8zpqRd1xyk
— Poland Daily (@PolandDaily) July 1, 2018
The first major change to European copyright laws since 2001, the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market is an extreme measure with vague phrasing. Many experts, lawmakers, and internet users have expressed their concern.
The proposed bill puts pressure on companies to police their sites of any offending content. Article 13 and Article 11 are the most controversial sections of the law, as it undermines Internet freedom.
The July plenary vote on the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market could cause irreparable damage to the Internet as a whole, as well as the EU economy, whilst creating legal uncertainty for decades to come, critics argue.
Over 70 Internet pioneers and experts have rallied behind Sir Tim Berners-Lee to address an open letter on 12 June 2018, to the European Parliament wherein they urge you to vote for the deletion of Article 13 for the sake of the Internet’s future, as it “would mandate Internet platforms to embed an automated infrastructure for monitoring and censorship deep into their networks”.
Over 50 NGOs representing human rights and media freedom addressed an open letter on 16 October 2017, to the European Parliament asking it to delete Article 13, as it “would violate the freedom of expression set out in (…) the Charter of Fundamental Rights” and “provoke such legal uncertainty that online services will have no other option than to monitor, filter and block EU citizens’ communications”.
Academics from 25 leading Intellectual Property research centres in Europe published an open letter on 26 April 2018, pointing out that there is scientific consensus on the fact that Article 13 “threaten[s] the user participation benefits of the e-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC)”.
On 17 October 2017, 56 respected academics co-signed a recommendation warning that Article 13 “contains imbalanced, undefined legal concepts that make it incompatible with the existing acquis”.
European innovative media publishers too have expressed their grave concerns around Article 13. They consider that “these rules are bad news for publishers who rely on an open and competitive internet to source, create and disseminate stories to their readers”.
Allied for Startups explains that “the suggested filtering technology will raise the cost of launching a startup in Europe and drive talent away”.
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