European Union about to OUTLAW linking to media stories on the internet, banning critics of corporate-run media
by: JD Heyes
NaturalNews.com
Saturday, June 23, 2018
About 25 years ago when the Internet as we know it was just getting started, many of us independent journalists predicted that it would grow into a free-speech behemoth that would dramatically undermine the biased corporate media’s vice-grip hold on information.
And by any measure you want to use, we were right.
But uninhibited free speech like our founders envisioned is a threat to the authoritarian Left, and now they’re actively looking for ways to regain control over information by penalizing journalistic operations that flourish outside of their realm of control.
Leftists in the European Union voted last week to impose a series of Internet controls that would end much of the free-thinking, free-speaking Web as it currently exists. In particular, the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs approved very controversial measures as part of the EU’s Copyright Reform effort: The establishment of a “link tax” and a “meme ban.”
Under Articles 11 and 13, the EU would create a virtual censorship machine that would likely spell the end to news aggregation sites like The Drudge Report and scores of others — all on the premise of controlling criticism of corporate/establishment media.
As reported by The Next Web, Article 11 is the “link tax.” It forces anyone who uses small portions of online journalistic content to first obtain a license from the publisher, “essentially outlawing current business models of most aggregators and news apps.” It’s also likely to threaten the hyperlink itself and give outsized power and control to publishers who don’t want to be linked to criticism — at the cost of an open exchange of ideas.
Meanwhile, Article 13 would create “censorship machines” making “platforms responsible for monitoring user behavior to stop copyright infringements, but basically means only huge platforms will have the resources to let users comment or share content,” TNW noted. Critics of the measure say it will lead to broad censorship by threatening free speech through parody, satire, and even protest videos.
The Left wants to control the information you see
Now, the committee’s vote does not mean that the new measures are set to become law. Rather, the articles’ passage establishes the European parliament’s position on those issues before beginning the legislative phase. Still, adopting articles and positions is considered a strong indicator of what’s to come.
The Rest…HERE
