YouTube CEO urges video creators to speak against European ‘meme ban’ proposal

YouTube’s CEO is encouraging creators on her platform to protest a proposed European Union copyright regulation that some worry could lead to massive restrictions on user-created content.

In an open letter, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki urged creators to voice their opposition to Article 13, an EU proposal that would impose new burdens on technology companies to filter content for intellectual property law violations.

“This legislation poses a threat to both your livelihood and your ability to share your voice with the world,” Wojcicki wrote.

{mosads}She warned that the proposal could “force platforms, like YouTube, to allow only content from a small number of large companies,” because it would become “too risky for platforms to host content from smaller original content creators, because the platforms would now be directly liable for that content.”

The proposal has become controversial in Europe where it has been informally called the “censorship machine” and the “meme ban.”

A final vote on the proposal is expected to take place next year.

Internet companies, including Google, have in the past rallied their users to protest regulations that they argued would hurt their industry. The industry in 2012 successfully rallied thousands to vocally protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act.

Internet companies have similarly thrown their weight behind pro-net neutrality rules. They’ve rallied large numbers of users to voice their support for the regulations on broadband companies.