In a vote today, 20 June, the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted for a Copyright Directive, which includes measures to monitor and filter virtually all uploads to the internet.
The Copyright Directive includes the controversial Article 13, which mandates the mass monitoring and censorship of internet uploads. The vote comes after widespread criticism of these measures and against the advice of civil society, of leading academics and universities, of research institutions, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and even the inventors of the internet and of the world wide web.
Upload filters are opposed by every independent, expert voice in this debate. If the campaign keeps growing like it is, we will save the internet from the censorship machines,
said Diego Naranjo, Senior Policy Advisor at EDRi.
The next step is a negotiation between the Parliament and the EU Member States. A final vote of the European Parliament on the outcome of that negotiation will take place around the end of 2018.