Wikipedia's Italian, Spanish and Polish versions go dark in protest
The protest comes as an EU law goes to the vote later Thursday that would make platforms liable for copyright infringements by users.
Seekers of knowledge in Spain, Italy and Poland will have to make do without Wikipedia for a day or two, as the version of the free online encyclopedia in these countries have temporarily shut off access in protest over a controversial copyright law, reports TechCrunch.
The law, which goes to vote on July 5 at 10 a.m. UTC (3 a.m. PT), sports two elements that critics have taken issue with. The first is Article 13, which makes platforms liable for infringements by users, as well as Article 11, which has been dubbed a "link tax" by critics, as it creates a neighbouring right for snippets of journalistic content.
Users in affected countries will see a banner urging them to call their MEP to voice their opposition, as well as a button to visit the saveyourinternet.eu website, according to TechCrunch.
The Wikipedia sites will be unavailable until after the parliament vote.