Polish Wikipedia blacks out in protest against EU copyright rules
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
05.07.2018 08:25
Online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has shut down access to its Polish-language site in protest against planned new EU copyright rules.
Photo: Pixabay.com/Pixies.
Wikipedia claims the directive threatens online freedoms and fails to update copyright laws.
Visitors to Wikipedia during the protest are being urged to contact their representatives in the European Parliament about the new law which, if passed, would see the website punished for copyright infringements by users.
People in a number of Polish cities recently held protests against the EU’s planned new rules.
The government in Warsaw has also criticised the planned changes.
"The Polish government does not accept any solutions which aim to limit freedom of speech online," the country’s culture ministry said in a statement.
The EU’s planned changes go to a vote in the European Parliament on Thursday.
The Polish Wikipedia page is to temain blacked out until after the vote.
The Italian and Spanish versions of Wikipedia are also blacked out. (vb/pk)
Source:IAR