VANCOUVER—European legislation governing how content is shared online has passed a key vote in the European Union parliament, and ripple effects from its strict regulations on anything that can be copyrighted online are expected to extend all the way to users in B.C.

Internet and privacy experts are already criticizing the EU’s Copyright Directive, which will face a final decision in early 2019, but of particular concern is an article on “copyright machines,” which pre-screens all user-posted content for potentially copyrighted material before it can go online.

“It is fundamentally going to break the Internet as we know it,” said Laura Tribe, executive director of OpenMedia.

She said that since many large platforms like Facebook and Twitter are global, its likely that implementing these new policies will change the very structure of those platforms.

“There is global concern about the impact on the core structures of the internet … the ripple effects are going to reach us.”

Another aspect of the legislation that has alarmed experts is the “link tax,” which will they will impose fees on any platform that displays previews for links in the form of quotes or images — limiting users to posting links without any description attached. The intent is to protect copyright and ownership over content, especially in the news media.

But Tribe said that it could limit the ability of smaller platforms to enter the market and enable larger platforms like Facebook to dominate the Internet even more.

“Companies that can afford to pay are the biggest companies, and smaller companies won’t stand a chance — it eliminates opportunities for new entrants into the market,” she said.

Tribe also warned that the copyright filters that already exist aren’t very effective, with many of them overcompensating for copyright violations.

“The most advanced algorithm is YouTube, and there are still tons of false positives,” she said.

The Copyright Directive has already caused concern for online businesses in B.C.

Rina Liddle, principal of Vancouver-based social media agency Liddleworks Indie Media, said that while it is currently unclear how the directive will impact her own operations, it could negatively impact local small businesses by implementing more fees and barriers to posting content — part of a larger trend she said has already been taking place.

“It’s becoming more and more pay to play … I’ve already noticed a marked shift in the content I used to be served up and the content I am now served up,” she said. “I think it’s always the little guy who suffers in the end.”

Liddle said that the social media agencies like her own have already dealt with challenges with YouTube’s copyright algorithm — and fears the EU directive could make things more difficult.

“That’s already a problem on YouTube, where I’ve had clients who have permission to use a song, for example, yet the only option for the content creator is to mark the content free to share or not free to share,” Liddle said in an email. “Ad hoc agreements are difficult to get past YouTube, especially because Google doesn’t provide support for that platform.”

She said that for content creators who create “content that is designed specifically to be shared,” the filters could present unnecessary and cumbersome barrier.

“Not all content producers have the same concerns. Professional content producers, who produce for creative or commercial reasons will likely benefit from this article, I'm thinking specifically of fine art photographers, filmmakers, journalists and authors, etc.,” she said.

The EU law could also have impacts on how Canada legislates content posted online.

Mike Larsen, president of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, said that these European laws could eventually form a template for Canadian and British Columbia privacy and copyright laws, through “policy creep.”

“Canada is taking a look at review of our own copyright law, and a lot of people look to the EU … so what’s happening in Europe will be seen as a model going forward.”

While BC falls under Canada's Copyright Act, it has some of its own provincial arrangements. He said that due to the global nature of the Internet, it becoming more difficult "for jurisdictions like B.C. to have stand-alone copyright laws.”

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However, Larsen said that in the wake of scandals at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, which has connections to B.C., it's a good time to revisit those policies and enact laws that can anticipate what could happen.

“We are in a reactive posture instead of leading the way … but we have such a capacity in B.C. to do something modern and very progressive.”

Clarification – Oct. 15, 2018: This article was updated from a previous version to make clear Mike Larsen’s comments.

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