Articles 11 and 13 both approved by European politicians
[β¦] For advocates of the legislation, the directive will balance the playing field between US tech giants and European content creators, giving copyright holders more power over how big internet platforms distribute their content. But critics say the law is vague and poorly thought-out, and will restrict how content is shared online, stifling free speech in the process.
[β¦]Β Two parts of the copyright directive are particularly worrying to critics: Article 11, known as the βlink tax,β and Article 13, dubbed the βupload filter.β Article 11 lets publishers charge platforms like Google News when they display snippets of news stories, while Article 13 (renamed Article 17 in the most recent draft of the legislation) gives sites like YouTube new duties to stop users from uploading copyrighted content.
In both cases, critics say that these well-intentioned laws will lead to trouble. Article 13, they say, will lead to the widespread introduction of βupload filter,β that will scan all user content uploaded to sites to remove copyrighted material. The law does not explicitly call for such filters, but critics say it will be an inevitability as sites seek to avoid penalties. [β¦]
Hey, EU pals. I know things look shitty right now, but no matter what the outcome of Article 11 and Article 13 are going to be like, remember one thing:
GO. VOTE.
Get these people out of their seats. They donβt know what they are doing, they called protesters actors, said petitions were signed by bots and call everyone lazy and disinterested in politics - because they had their asses safe in the chairs in the parlament.Β
They donβt realize they are not just hurting creative outlets, but also free speech, social media and eCommerce. Livelihoods depend on the internet. Europeβs economy and cultural landscape will suffer from it, as will other parts of the world.
Remember this. Be angry. And no matter what happens after this now: Stay angry. And go vote.
