Assistant Tries to Shut Down Our Interview with Voss — After Questioning the Internet Filter
Six months ago, I interviewed the German MEP overseeing the EU Copyright Directive, Axel Voss. The Directive had just been passed by Parliament, was on its way to trilogue negotiations and Voss was triumphant. I had some questions about the Directive, like how come they voted through a ban on filming at a sports event? This was what later came to be Article 12a of the Directive. Voss waved it away, insisting it was a mistake. It was only after I told him that he’d just voted for it — that it was included in the Directive — that the confusion grew.
“It was there today? Was it also included today?”, he asked.
Voss didn’t know what he was voting for. I recorded the interview, which was then picked up by a number of large media all over Europe. During the ensuing negotiations, article 12b was deleted, but it gave an indication of how little MEPs knew about the Directive they voted on. Not even the leading rapporteur knew.
When we met today, I didn’t think Voss would remember us having met before. I was wrong. He was on his guard, and didn’t allow himself to be flattered by my attempts to get a comment from him about how journalists gave him a round of applause when he entered the press conference. Instead, he took care to try toning down the dystopian image spreading all over Europe regarding the Directive. He outlined his concern, in spite of me not having asked any questions about anyone’s concern.
When I asked Voss for examples of what would happen when someone wants to post a meme or critique a copyrighted work, his assistant gestured that my time was up. I didn’t see it, so she went to my cameraman and pushed down the camera. She continued to push down the hand of the cameraman so that the lens was pointed towards Voss’ legs, while he tries to explain how satire will be protected from a filter.
It’s a bizarre situation. Only after I was done with my question did I notice her. Then she let the camera go. I move on to another question, and that’s when we’re shut down.
Even though the interview gets a little weird, and all you see is Voss’ legs and shoes for quite a while, something important is emphasised:
- Having exemptions in the Directive for satire, memes and critique is one thing, but we also need answers to how it will work in practice.
It’s enough to try giving a practical example of how it might work when citizens want to critique a TV broadcast or make satire from a copyrighted image. Such an upload won’t be published, it’ll be blocked. It’s only afterwards that it’ll become available, and only then if the user appeals.
2. There is no deadline for how long the appeal and review process should take.
Facebook just needs to block, in the Directive there is nothing about how long it will take for them to ensure that the works that are satire are republished.
What a strange setup for citizens who are supposed to be protected from censorship and freedom of speech restrictions.
See Voss’ answers to the questions in the clip below (and also enjoy checking out his trousers and shoes while his assistant shoves down our camera).
This piece is funded by a Kickstarter campaign to monitor the European Parliament’s Copyright Directive proposal during its final stage of voting. Text and images are supplied under CC BY, a license that makes it free to share and redistribute wherever you want, provided you link back here with appropriate credit.
Read the original post in Swedish.
