EU approves new copyright rules opposed by Google, Facebook

The European Union approved a new set of copyright rules Monday that are opposed by online platforms like Google and Facebook.

The law was adopted by the European Council Monday after being approved by the European Parliament last month.

Online platforms will now be responsible for making sure that copyrighted material isn’t uploaded to their platforms without permission from the original creator.

{mosads}The new law also includes a section allowing media publishers to demand compensation when platforms post snippets of their news articles. 

Tech companies and digital rights activists opposed the copyright reforms, arguing they could infringe on freedom of speech online and fundamentally alter how Google and Facebook do business in the EU.

The rules will force all but the smallest online platforms to install content filters to weed out potentially copyrighted content, including memes and gifs.

Tech giants like Google have already begun investing in automatic filtering systems.

The entertainment industry in the EU has been supportive of the reforms, saying they will allow entertainers and creators to be fairly compensated for their work.

EU member nations now have two years to develop national laws to match the rules.