Wikipedia is again available for free in Latvian

The Wikipedia Internet encyclopedia, which was closed in Latvian yesterday to protest against the Copyright Directive to be considered by the European Parliament, is now open to the public, while in Other European languages, the content continues to be blocked.

On Wednesday, the day before the EP vote on the progress of the Copyright Directive, the "Wikipedia" version of the Latvian language was blocked. Using Wikipedia in Latvian, a statement was published, the content of which indicated that the EP would vote on July 5, or would continue to advance the proposed copyright directive "which, if confirmed, would significantly impede the freedom of the Internet. " The Directive updates the Copyright Law in Europe by promoting the participation of all citizens in the information society, which jeopardizes online freedom and prevents access to the Internet. web by creating new barriers, filters and restrictions. It was said in a statement

For these reasons, the Latvian communities of Wikipedia and other languages ​​have decided to temporarily deny access to all encyclopedic pages. "We want to continue to offer a free, open and collaborative encyclopedia with verifiable content. We call on all members of the European Parliament to vote against the proposed wording, to reopen the discussion and to consider many suggestions from Wikimedia organizations since the deletion of Articles 11 and 13., the introduction of pan-European freedom throughout the EU and the protection of social works, "said in a statement

MEPs will vote on a proposal for a directive on the author's right at the Thursday plenary session in Strasbourg As the EP delegation explained, only the changes to the report of the committee responsible at the plenary session in September will be voted on.

The decision of the EP's Legal Affairs Committee to start negotiations with EU Member States was announced on Monday and MEPs can challenge this decision. asking for a vote in plenary According to EP rules of procedure, the decision of the committee to open negotiations with the Member States on the Copyright Directive was announced at the beginning of the plenary session on Monday afternoon. Members had time until midnight Tuesday to challenge this decision. If more than 10% of the members (at least 76) oppose the beginning of the negotiations, the vote in plenary on the committee's decision is taken.