Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online

Time to stop the #CensorshipMachine: NOW!

By EDRi · November 30, 2017

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!

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

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)

 

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