Free online information

28.10.2016

Question for written answer E-008136-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Dubravka Šuica (PPE)

The proposal for a directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market, put forward by the Commission last month, could potentially mean a complete suspension of the free exchange of information on the Internet throughout the EU, and major media companies would receive a new source of income in the form of the Link Tax, predominantly funded by search engines such as Google.

Both Internet service-providers and Internet users would be affected by these legal limitations. For example, social network users would not be allowed to share or quote a newspaper article on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter without authorisation. YouTube and other audiovisual platform users would face similar problems.

How does the Commission plan to safeguard equal access to information for all citizens if sharing links, which is one of the most fundamental features of the Internet, is restricted?