New European copyright laws could outlaw memes on the internet, campaigners have claimed.

Digital rights groups are petitioning against the Copyright Directive, a new law that is supposed to protect rights-holders from copyright infringement on the web, which the European Parliament will vote on later this month.

Critics fear this will destroy the hugely popular internet culture of sharing and modifying recognisable images, often referred to as "memes" on social media. The pictures in question, which typically consist of scenes featured in popular films and TV series, may constitute a breach under the new law.

Article 13 of the directive states that companies like Google and Facebook should “take measures to ensure the functioning of agreements concluded with rights-holders for the use of their works".

Campaigners at Copyright 4 Creativity said the proposals risk censoring free speech because it is likely that technology giants, afraid of hefty fines, will automatically remove content they deem a risk, ridding social media of satire, commentary and inevitably would “destroy the internet as we know it”.