Stop the Censorship Machines! How can we prevent mandatory upload filters in the EU?

Raegan MacDonald, Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt, Diego Naranjo, Caroline De
Cock After more than a decade, the European Commission has finally
come forward with a proposal to reform copyright. Unfortunately,
the proposal fails to bring copyright into the 21st century. Most
concerning is an ACTA-esque proposal that would make platforms
hosting User Generated Content liable for the actions of their
users and mandate filter systems, designed to scan all of our
uploaded content before it even shows up online. Should this be
implemented as currently proposed, Europe would introduce nothing
less than an automated, distributed censorship infrastructure. If
we don’t act now, the web we know and love will be broken,
creativity and expression stifled, all in the name of more
copyright protection. The consequences of such a draconian measure
would extend far beyond copyright, as uploading, remixing, and
sharing content online will be easier to quell, whether you’re
posting a meme or a political commentary. Copyright is already
being abused in countless cases to achieve things it was never
meant for, especially for silencing critical voices online. Forced
automation of filtering would worsen the situation tremendously.
Together with experts and attendees, Mozilla and Wikimedia Germany
will unpack what this proposal means, and how we can stop it.