EU backs copyright law that could force Google and Facebook to block huge amounts of posts Daily M
EU countries have backed an overhaul of the blocs copyright rules which would force Google and Facebook to filter out copyright protected content on their platforms including YouTube and Instagram and pay publishers for news snippets.
The proposal, endorsed by EU members states on Wednesday, is unpopular with many Europeans who view it as an attempt to censor the web.
Thousands gathered in Cologne at the weekend to protest against the move, which they say will be a de facto meme ban as the internet jokes are often based on copyrighted images and video.
Protests: The move is unpopular with many Europeans who view it as an attempt to censor the web and at the weekend a large protest gathered in Cologne against it pictured
Outrage worsened this week after the EU Commission was forced to take down an online post in which it called opponents of the controversial proposal a mob and implied they had been hoodwinked by powerful tech companies.
The piece titled How the mob was told to save the dragon and slay the knight was deleted and replaced with a message saying it had been taken down because people had not correctly understood it.
This only fueled the anger of its opponents, who felt they were owed an an apology.
The lobbying battle has raged since September 2016 when the European Commission proposed to modernise copyright for the digital age, sparking a major debate between tech giants, artistic creators and member states.
Negotiators for the European Council, which represents the EUs 28 member states, and for the European Parliament struck a provisional deal last week, but in a rare rebellion, several member states today voted against the compromise and two abstained.
Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland refused to back the deal and released a joint statement slamming the final text.
The reforms goal was to stimulate innovation, creativity, investment and production of new content, the rebel countries said.
However, the final text fails to deliver and is a step back for the EU, they said.
The dissenting countries also said the proposed changes could hinder innovation and hurt the blocs competitiveness in the digital market.
We regret that the Directive does not strike the right balance between the protection of right holders and the interests of EU citizens and companies, they said.
The new EU copyright proposals, which face a final vote in the European Parliament in March or April, would mean tech giants such as Facebook and Google pictured would have to sign licensing agreements with rights holders such as musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists to use their work
The next step in the process is a vote by a committee of lawmakers next week and a final crunch vote at the European Parliament is expected in March or April with the outcome highly uncertain.
Powerful Germany backed the deal, but voiced concern that the reform faced a harsh test in the European Parliament with opposition growing, a European source said.
The biggest stumbling block has been a provision that calls for YouTube and other platforms to remove illegal content using automatic filters, or face massive liability.
Another bone of contention is a provision to create neighbouring rights that opponents call a link tax for media publishers.
The revamp would require Google and other online platforms to sign licensing agreements with rights holders such as musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists to use their work online.
Googles YouTube and Facebooks Instagram and other sharing platforms will have to install upload filters to prevent users from uploading copyrighted materials.
Google, which has lobbied against both features and has even suggested that it might pull Google News from Europe, said last week it would study the text before deciding on its next steps.
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