The Guardian

In punishing tech giants, the EU has made the internet worse for everyone | James Ball

Searches will become more difficult and competitors deterred by these unnecessary changes to copyright law
MEPs vote for an extension of copyright law. Photograph: Patrick Seeger/EPA

The world is in the middle of a global debate on how to curb the power of the tech giants, prevent the exploitation of the world’s information ecosystem by Russia and other bad actors, and make the internet work for all of us.

Given that situation, it may seem that two motions passed by the European parliament this week are positive ones – at the last moment, they were inserted into legislation, having. Both motions are unwelcome to the tech giants, and will serve to regulate the internet – but both are wrongheaded and counterproductive, and will make the internet worse.

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