The EU Parliament recently put the internet, at least in Europe, on a path towards certain corporate Orwellian doom.

Article 11 also known as the “link tax” forces anyone linking an article of more than one word to a news story to pay for a service that licenses the article. The news site can according to the Verge ”charge anything they want for the right to quote them or refuse to sell altogether, effectively giving them the right to choose who can criticize them. “

While Article 13, also known as the upload filter requires “All but the smallest platforms will have to defensively adopt copyright filters that examine everything you post and censor anything judged to be a copyright infringement.” According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

And if that wasn’t enough to bring the free flow of information to a grinding halt. Typical Social media posts, like a selfie taken at a football game have been targeted by Article 12a. “ No posting your own photos or videos of sports matches. Only the “organisers” of sports matches will have the right to publicly post any kind of record of the match. No posting your selfies, or short videos of exciting plays. You are the audience, your job is to sit where you’re told, passively watch the game and go home.” According to the EFF.

The EU celebrated the decision with smitten glee. Unaware that they are shooting themselves in the foot. The final vote won’t take place until January of 2019, but it is expected to pass.