In an open letter to the managing federal government and German MEPs, representatives of civil society, business, and Internet culture today called for a clear declaration against the use of automated filter systems for online platforms that work with user-generated content, as sought by the EU Commission.
In addition to eco – Association of the Internet Industry, a broad alliance of organizations signed the letter, with these including: the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband), Wikimedia Deutschland, the digital association Bitkom, the Federation of German Start-ups (Bundesverband Deutsche Startups), the German Digital Industry Association (Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft), the German Federal Association of IT Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (Bundesverband IT-Mittelstand), the German Association for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft), the Chaos Computer Club, D64 – Center for Digital Progess (D64 – Zentrum für digitalen Fortschritt), the Working Group Against Internet Blocking and Censorship (Arbeitskreis gegen Internetsperren und Zensur), the German Founding Member Association (Deutsche Gründerverband), the Digital Society (Digitale Gesellschaft), the Federal Youth Press Association, Germany (Jugendpresse Deutschland), and the Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland.
Oliver Süme, Chairman of the Board of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, regards the regulation proposed by the Commission as representing an acute threat to the diversity and freedom of the Internet: “The Commission’s proposal is an attack on the foundations of the free Internet. The introduction of upload filters would mean a back-door to undermining of the eCommerce Directive – in such a manner, European providers become weakened in international competition”.
Regardless of whether it concerns text, images, or video content, the EU reform proposal stipulates that, before it is uploaded, all content of individual Internet users must be checked for alleged copyright infringements, and those that are identified as potentially infringing on rights are to be blocked automatically. Upload filters are the central element of the EU’s reform initiative to renew copyright in the digital single market. The measure would affect all platforms that store third-party content.
This would signify a radical departure from the existing provisions governing the handling of copyright infringements in digital space. In concrete terms, the reform involving automated systems would run contrary to current measures for differentiated legal assessment.
The Open Letter states: “Complicated considerations of what is permissible and what is not – whether it pertains to criticism, satire, or art – cannot be undertaken by automated filters”.
As such, the Alliance calls for binding commitments to a forward-looking digital and copyright policy at national and European level, and thus for a clear declaration against upload filters.
