Darkest Day of the Internet! Livestream

Amid widespread protests, online and off, the European Union approved a controversial new copyright directive on Tuesday. Two years in the making, the legislation is intended to give copyright holders more control over their work, but critics say it could hand more power to tech giants, stifle the free flow of information, and kill our beloved memes.

European Parliament passed the copyright directive in a vote with 348 votes in favor, 274 against, and 36 abstentions. The new guidelines are the EU’s first major update to its copyright laws since 2001, and they’ve gone through a circuitous and confusing legislative process that only caught the public’s attention last summer. Lawmakers who opposed the directive attempted to remove the most contentious pieces of the legislation before holding a final vote on Tuesday but were overruled by just five members of Parliament.