Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/997322
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 JUNE 2018 NEWS PAUL COCKS WITH Maltese YouTubers hav- ing just last week been granted the possibility to monetise traf- fic on their channels, many of them are now joining the fight against the European Union's Copyright Directive, which passed its initial stage yesterday and which many critics believe will tear the internet apart. The European Parliament's le- gal affairs committee (JURI) on Thursday voted in favour of the legislation, which – for the most part – simply updates techni- cal language for copyright law in the age of the internet, but also includes two highly contro- versial provisions. Maltese Na- tionalist MEP Francis Zammit Dimech, who sits on the com- mittee, voted in favour of the directive. Article 11 is being described as a "link tax" which would force online platforms like Facebook and Google to buy licences Will EU copyright law herald end of internet freedom? Critics of the EU's proposed Copyright Directive say it will stif le creativity and debate and that it could kill the internet as we know it. So why did the only Maltese MEP on the EU Legal Affairs Committee vote in favour of it?