Today in an open letter, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and more than 50 human rights, media freedom, and press organisations called on European lawmakers to reject mandatory upload filters in Article 13 of the European Commission’s proposed DSM Copyright Directive. Article 13 would force website operators to use content filtering technology to systematically monitor all user uploads and screen for unlicensed copyrighted content.
“Article 13 would mandate censorship across a limitless range of internet services. Its passage would be a serious blow to human rights, free expression, and access to online information in Europe. In its upcoming vote, the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee should reject this draconian and disproportionate proposal,” said Jens-Henrik Jeppesen, CDT’s European Affairs Director.
Article 13 would also violate principles enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the European Convention of Human Rights, and several rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union, leading numerous Member States to question its legality.
CDT shares many of these concerns and calls on the European Parliament and Member States to put an end to this debate by rejecting Article 13 of the Directive in its entirety.