EU Commission calls opponents of Copyright Directive a "mob," as thousands take to the streets for the #Artikel13Demo

The EU Commission has been forced to retract a Medium post in which it patronised and dismissed opponents of the controversial Article 13 proposal that will force platforms to surveil and censor users' postings with copyright filters, calling them a "mob."

The Commission characterised the opposition as being stooges for Google, hoodwinked by the company to carry water for it, despite the fact that Google has quietly supported the idea of filters as an acceptable alternative to other forms of regulation (Facebook, too, has supported the proposal).

The Copyright Directive -- which contains the offending Article 13 -- is coming up for a vote this spring, just before EU elections; the Commission has, it seems, chosen a side in that vote and is attempting to sideline and marginalise EU voters who might put pressure on their elected representatives.

The Commission's piece has been removed (read an archived copy here), and replaced with a message that blames readers for not understanding it correctly.

This patronising dismissal marks a new phase in the effort to force the Directive through the Parliament; it supercedes an earlier tactic of characterising opponents of the Directive as "bots" (one German politician tweeted his suspicion that Google had unleashed bots on him, citing the fact that the voters who'd contacted him were using Gmail accounts!).

The tactic is backfiring. This weekend, thousands marched against the Directive in Cologne, carrying signs that mocked the "mob" and "bot" characterisations. More events are planned for March across the EU, ahead of the final vote. Read the rest