The European Parliament has voted to adopt the highly controversial Article 13 provision which would govern the production and distribution of content online under the auspices of increasing copyright protections.
Tuesday’s move will update the EU’s 20-year-old copyright rules and will govern audiovisual content, much to the dismay of many social media users who have already begun outpouring their grief online.
However the parliament said in a statement that sharing memes and gifs has been protected “even more than it was before” and they will continue to be available and shareable on online platforms.
MEPs passed the legislation by 348 votes to 274 Tuesday. Opponents had hoped for last-minute amendments to be made but their efforts were in vain.View image on Twitter
Dark day for internet freedom: The @Europarl_EN has rubber-stamped copyright reform including #Article13 and #Article11. MEPs refused to even consider amendments. The results of the final vote: 348 in favor, 274 against #SaveYourInternet8,8121:53 PM – Mar 26, 20198,048 people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy
Marietje Schaake✔@MarietjeSchaake
European Parliament adopted the text and we did not have a chance to vote on articles 11&13 again. 4 votes difference on allowing for the amendments to be voted. New controversial copyright law underway for Europe Marietje Schaake✔@MarietjeSchaakeReady to roll #copyright vote 941:54 PM – Mar 26, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy121 people are talking about this
Just in: Memes are now illegalAdam Fleming✔@adamflemingThe European Parliament has passed the EU’s new Copyright Directive.2341:53 PM – Mar 26, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy232 people are talking about this
Julia Reda, a German MEP with the Pirate Party, described it as a “dark day for internet freedom.”
Article 13 or ‘The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market’ makes all platforms legally responsible for the content hosted and shared on their platforms.
The process of updating the bloc’s copyright laws began in the European Commission two years ago, ostensibly to protect Europe’s publishers, broadcasters and artists and guarantee fair compensation from big tech companies.ALSO ON RT.COMWhat is Article 13? Controversial EU copyright law faces final vote
The onus will now be on tech companies to clamp down on content-sharing on their platforms, which will likely ensure yet more draconian policing of speech and content.
EU member states now have two years to pass their own laws putting Article 13 into effect.
Tens of thousands marched in protest across Germany ahead of the vote, decrying what they viewed as severe online censorship.
Tech giant Google said that while the directive is “improved” it will still lead to legal uncertainty and will damage Europe’s creative and digital economies.
Critics have argued that the only way for Article 13 to be effectively enforced would be through the use of upload filters which automatically check content to see if it’s copyrighted or not, at least in theory. However, the exact mechanics of such a system have yet to be fully debated and the potential for abuse is immediately clear
BY RT NEWS
