Wikipedia “not working”: blocked in protest against copyright law

The copyright directive being debated in the European Parliament “threatens online freedom and creates obstacles to accessing the Internet.” That is why the Italian Wikipedia community has decided to hide its pages.

Wikipedia today “does not work” in Italy. The copyright directive being debated in the European Parliament “threatens online freedom and creates obstacles to Internet access.” For this, the Italian Wikipedia community has decided darken your pages ask MEPs to “reject the current text of the directive and reopen the debate”.

Wikipedia, why is it not accessible

“On July 5, 2018 the European Parliament in plenary session will decide whether to accelerate the approval of the copyright directive. This directive, if enacted, will significantly limit Internet freedom ”, reads the July 3 note published by Wikipedia, which appears every time a user tries to consult the pages of the online encyclopedia.

“Online freedom at risk”

“Instead of updating copyright laws in Europe to promote the participation of all in the information society – continues the note – threatens online freedom and creates barriers to access the network imposing new barriers, filters and restrictions. If the proposal is approved, it may be impossible to share a newspaper article on social media or find it on a search engine. Wikipedia itself would risk shutting down “.

Appeal to members of the European Parliament

“The proposal – read the Wikipedia pages – has already received the strong disapproval of more than 70 computer scientists, including the creator of the web Tim Berners-Lee, 169 academics, 145 organizations operating in the fields of human rights, freedom press, scientific research and computer industry and the Wikimedia Foundation “.

For all these reasons, the Italian Wikipedia community has decided to hide all the pages of the encyclopedia. “We want to be able to continue offering a free, open and collaborative encyclopedia with verifiable content. – They added -. We therefore ask all MEPs to reject the current text of the directive and to reopen the debate by examining the many proposals from the Wikimedia associations, starting with the abolition of art. 11 and 13, as well as the extension of freedom of view to the entire EU and the protection of the public domain ”.