PRCA welcomes vote against EU Copyright Directive: "We have the chance to save the internet"

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has welcomed the vote against opening negotiations on the EU Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market – effectively allowing reform and a full debate on the proposed link tax and censorship machines in September – as a victory for the everyday internet user.
 
Francis Ingham MPRCA, Director General, PRCA, said: “Thanks to the 318 MEPs who voted to send these damaging proposals back to the drawing board, we have a real opportunity in September to preserve the internet as we know it and end these attempts to severely limit how links and content can be shared online.
 
“As the PR and communications industry has said time and time again, the very idea of link taxes and censorship machines threatens the core principle of access to information and represents a misguided attempt to regulate our internet in a way that is detrimental to practitioners as well as the everyday internet user.
 
“While the intention is to support organisations which produce news, ultimately this will hamstring aggregating websites and applications and drastically reduce the public's ability to engage properly with news and content.
 
“This is a live issue and we welcome the fact MEPs have not simply rubber-stamped these proposals. Now is the time to keep up our efforts; now is the time to engage with the details; now is the time to make sure social media remains social. We have the chance to save the internet.”
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