Hello everyone,

As many of you are aware, the new European copyright directive is is coming up for an important vote next week, and it includes a provision (Article 13) which would require websites which host large quantities of user uploaded content to run new content through upload filters to identify and block copyright infringing material. Last year https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/06/06/european-copyright-directive-proposal/, we wrote about why Article 13 is bad for collaboration and freedom of expression online, and yesterday we published a follow-up blog https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/06/14/dont-force-platforms-to-replace-communities-with-algorithms/ with Anna Mazgal of Wikimedia Deutschland addressing Article 13 and other troubling proposals for mandatory automatic content detection.

While technology like machine learning can be helpful in content evaluation (for example ORES https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/ORES, which flags vandalism and rates article quality on Wikipedia), Wikimedia only uses these technologies to aid our community-driven processes. The community processes are particularly effective for catching copyright violations, and as a result the Wikimedia Foundation receives a small number of DMCA takedown notices every year, and only a handful of these are granted https://transparency.wikimedia.org/content.html.

We oppose Article 13 because we believe that policymakers need to leave room for community processes and protect user rights.

The vote is coming up soon, so please help share our blog post https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/06/14/dont-force-platforms-to-replace-communities-with-algorithms/ (also published on Medium https://medium.com/freely-sharing-the-sum-of-all-knowledge/dont-force-platforms-to-replace-communities-with-algorithms-c53e40cccf1f) and consider supporting ongoing campaigns against Article 13 https://saveyourinternet.eu/.

Many European chapters of the Wikimedia movement also participated in a Day of Action on June 12 against the proposal, writing blogs and tweeting under the hashtag #SaveYourInternet, so please amplify those as well.

Thanks, Allison Davenport Technology Law and Policy Fellow, Wikimedia Foundation