Time to stop the #CensorshipMachine: NOW!

Following the launch of the controversial proposed Copyright Directive in September 2016, the European Parliament and the Member States (gathered in the Council of the European Union) are now developing their positions.

Now it’s the time to send a clear message to European Parliament and national governments to oppose the “censorship machine”!

What happened in the EU Parliament?

The European Parliament Committee in charge of the file, the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), has been relatively quiet on their Report. However, some compromises have been drafted on Articles that do not concern the so-called “censorship machine”, the upload filter in Article 13 of the Copyright Directive proposal. On the other hand, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) voted on its Opinion on 20 November 2017 to remove the mention to upload filters, as did the Internal Market and Consumer Committee (IMCO). So far, those two Committees have been in favour, while two others opposed (Industry, Research and Industry (ITRE) and Culture and Education (CULT). The next step in the parliamentary process is the vote in JURI.

What about the EU Council?

The Troika of copyright extremist Member States (Spain, France and Portugal) have given Estonia (who holds the Presidency of the Council until January 2018, when Bulgaria will take on the role) new “ideas” on how to make the Copyright Directive even worse.

What can you do now?

To make sure we won’t end up with a censorship machine that will limit our freedom of expression, we need to remind your MEPs and our national governments how important it is to oppose upload filters!

Should every upload to the internet in Europe be under surveillance?
Should big online companies like Google and Facebook get a huge competitive advantage?
…or should we defend our freedom of expression and fundamental rights, and stop the #CensorshipMachine?

The time to speak up is now!

In just two weeks, the European Parliamentarians will leave for their holidays – and even if the vote on the proposal is scheduled for January 2018, crucial parts of the negotiations will be taking place already before the holidays. That’s why you need to make your voice heard now!

There are two easy actions you can take before 17 December:

1. Contact your representatives in the European Parliament JURI Committee!
   You can find your MEP in the list below, including their twitter handle and further contact details when you click on their names. Ideally you can call or just email them. If you prefer calling from your computer you can use EDRi member Bits of Freedom’s free calling tool.You can also tweet at your MEP by using the hashtags #CensorshipMachine and #FixCopyright! You could tweet for example along the lines:

   .@MEP_twitter_handle, please oppose the #CensorshipMachine in the #copyright Directive proposal! #FixCopyright

2. Contact the relevant ministry in your country dealing with the file!
   You can find some contact details here. (If you have more, please feel free to add them to the spreadsheet!) To strengthen your message, team up with other human rights, consumer or internet users associations, and draft a common response!

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Members of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI)

The European Parliament works in different specialised Committees. The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) consists of one chair (Pavel Svoboda), four vice-chairs (Jean-Marie Cavada,  Laura Ferrara, Mady Delvaux and Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg), 20 members and 23 substitutes*. This Committee is in charge of, among other files, the discussions on copyright.

• Austria
• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• France
• Finland
• Germany
• Greece
• Ireland
• Italy
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Austria

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Evelyn Regner @Evelyn_Regner	S&D	Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (SPÖ)

 

Bulgaria

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Emil Radev @Emil_Radev	EPP	Граждани за европейско развитие на България (ГЕРБ)
Angel Dzhambazki* @djambazki	ECR	VMRO

 

Czech Republic

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Pavel Svoboda (Chair) @1PavelSvoboda	EPP	Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová (KDU–ČSL)
Jiří Maštálka n/a	GUE-NGL	Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy (KSČM)

 

Denmark

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Jens Rohde* @rohde_jens	ALDE	Det Radikale Venstre

 

France

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Jean-Marie Cavada (Vice-Chair) @JeanMarieCAVADA	ALDE	Génération Citoyens (GC)
Joëlle Bergeron @Jbergeronmep	EFD	Sans étiquette
Marie-Christine Boutonnet @MCBoutonnetFN	ENF	Front national (FN)
Gilles Lebreton @Gilles_Lebreton	ENF	Front National (FN)
Pascal Durand* @PDurandOfficiel	Greens/EFA	Europe Écologie
Geoffrey Didier @GeoffroyDidier	EPP	Les Républicains (LR)
Virginie Rozière* @VRoziere	S&D	Parti radical de gauche (PRG)

 

Finland

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Heidi Hautala* @HeidiHautala	Greens/EFA	Vihreä liitto

 

Germany

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann @KaufmannSylvia	S&D	Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SDP)
Julia Reda @Senficon	Greens/EFA	Piratenpartei Deutschland (PIRATEN)
Axel Voss @AxelVossMdEP	EPP	Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (CDU)
Evelyne Gebhardt* n/a	S&D	Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD)
Angelika Niebler* @ANiebler	EPP	Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern e.V. (CSU)
Rainer Wieland* n/a	EPP	Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (CDU)
Tiemo Wölken* @woelken	S&D	Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD)

 

Greece

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Kostas Chrysogonos @Chrysogonos_K	GUE-NGL	Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás (Syriza)

 

Hungary

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
József Szájer n/a	EPP	Fidesz-Magyar Polgári Szövetség-Keresztény Demokrata Néppárt (Fidesz)

 

Ireland

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Brian Crowley n/a	ECR	Ireland / Fianna Fáil Party

 

Italy

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Laura Ferrara (Vice-Chair) @LFerraraM5S	EFDD	Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S)
Enrico Gasbarra @enricogasbarra	S&D	Partito Democratico (PD)
Isabella Adinolfi* @Isa_Adinolfi	EFDD	Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S)
Mario Borghezio* n/a	ENF	Lega Nord (LN)
Sergio Gaetano Cofferati* @Cofferati	S&D	–
Stefano Maullu* @stefanomaullu	EPP	Forza Italia (FI)

 

Lithuania

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Antanas Guoga* @TonyGuoga	EPP	Independent
Viktor Uspaskich* n/a	ALDE	Darbo partija (DP)

 

Luxembourg

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Mady Delvaux (Vice-Chair) @mady_delvaux	S&D	Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois (POSL)

 

Malta

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Francis Zammit Dimech @FrancisZD	EPP	Partit Nazzjonalista (PN)

 

Poland

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg (Vice-Chair) @lidiageringer	S&D	Bezpartyjna
Tadeusz Zwiefka @TadeuszZwiefka	EPP	Platforma Obywatelska (PO)
Kosma Złotowski* @KosmaZlotowski	ECR	Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS)
Stanisław Żółtek* n/a	ENF	Kongres Nowej Prawicy (KNP)

 

Portugal

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
António Marinho e Pinto @marinhoepinto	ALDE	Partido Democrático Republicano (PDR)

 

Romania

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Daniel Buda* @MEPDanielBuda	EPP	Partidul Naţional Liberal (PNL)
Răzvan Popa* n/a	S&D	Partidul Social Democrat (PSD)

 

Spain

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Rosa Estaràs Ferragut n/a	EPP	Partido Popular (PP)
Luis de Grandes Pascual* n/a	EPP	Partido Popular (PP)

 

Sweden

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Max Andersson @MaxAndersson	Greens/EFA	Miljöpartiet de gröna (MP)
Jytte Guteland* @JytteGuteland	S&D	Arbetarepartiet- Socialdemokraterna

 

United Kingdom

Name and Twitter handle	EU political group	National party
Mary Honeyball @maryhoneyball	S&D	Labour Party
Sajjad Karim @SHKMEP	ECR	Conservative Party
Jane Collins* @Jane_CollinsMEP	EFDD	UK Independence Party (UKIP)