November 2018, and the European Union was debating Article 13 of its new copyright directive. For a creator in Italy it felt like the whole platform was at risk. This was my #SaveYourInternet video, and the only one where I didn't ask you to subscribe.
I'm not ready to say goodbye
I'm not ready to say goodbye to Peter, Casey, Cody, Unbox Therapy, Junior Ali and all the other creators who taught me and pushed me out of my comfort zone to the other side of the camera. And I'm not ready to give up the work I'd done in the previous 14 months. That morning I'd received an email from YouTube that made me realise how serious things were.
What worried us about Article 13
Article 13 would make hosting platforms responsible for everything users upload. YouTube's CEO had just published a post about its potential unintended consequences. YouTube said it supported the goal of protecting copyright, but warned that the Parliament's proposal could seriously affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people. As I understood it then, YouTube would have to verify the rights to every single element of every video: sounds, a T-shirt you're wearing, a screen playing in the background, speeches. With hundreds of hours uploaded every minute, my fear was that YouTube might simply stop Europeans from uploading, and from watching too.
What started as protection against copyright violation risked becoming a strike against creativity. Only big companies able to clear every right would survive. A talented 13- or 18-year-old like Junior Ali, if born in Italy, might never be able to upload. So I asked everyone to share the hashtag #SaveYourInternet on their photos and videos.
Looking back
For context: the directive was adopted in 2019, and the article was renumbered as Article 17. YouTube didn't shut down in Europe, but the rules on platform liability did change. This video captures how worried many of us small creators felt at the time.