On August 30th a document leaked that revealed the Estonian presidency (head of the European Union) revealed a new plan for online censorship in Europe. This plan strengthens online censorship and surveillance to the extremes that some consider it borderline illegal.

The new plans want to increase internet control in the EU by making changes to existing proposals to be more like the Chinese model, where content needs to be approved and regulated by the government itself–or else it can’t be online. The council wants to filter uploads which means they want to control how content is posted online directly.

The council proposes two options, neither of which seem ideal in the slightest. The first option proposes that whoever hosts the cost–whether a platform or company, has control of an upload filter to remove content as directed by the council.

The second option proposes that if a user uploads copyright restricted or restricted content, that the platform or company is responsible. This means websites hosting content that is illegal under the council in some way can get in some serious trouble.

If the proposals in this leak come true, privacy, content control, and the internet itself can be seriously harmed in the EU. In order to prevent the laws and proposals from passing, you can call the people responsible for these proposals at websites like Savethememe.net.

If you want to take privacy into your own hands, perhaps consider trying out TorGuard VPN which gives you access to encryption and a shared IP address to keep your anonymous online. TorGuard also gives you access to restricted content in places like Europe or elsewhere around the world.