In the Capitol Hall in Washington, the discussion of the MEME Act is causing anxiety among netizens worldwide. This legislation, aimed at regulating the dissemination of online content, unexpectedly touches on the most sensitive nerve of the digital age—the right to exist of meme culture.
Memes, as the universal language of the internet, are essentially an art of deconstruction and reconstruction. When the law tries to constrain this fluid cultural form with traditional frameworks, it is as difficult as trying to catch mercury with a fishing net. The bill requires platforms to conduct copyright reviews on derivative content, which could directly lead to 80% of meme creation facing compliance crises. Research from the Electronic Frontier Foundation shows that existing algorithms cannot distinguish between infringement and fair use, and mechanical reviews will destroy the instantaneous dissemination advantage of memes.
However, the supporters of the bill are not without reason. Maliciously altered false information memes have indeed caused several social incidents in recent years. Data from the German Cybersecurity Center indicates that in 2022, 37% of online rumors were spread in the form of memes. Finding a balance between protecting creative freedom and curbing online violence has become a legislative challenge in the digital age.
Perhaps the solution lies not in the text of the law itself, but in building a new governance framework. The "Digital Culture License" system being trialed in the UK allows creators to adapt copyrighted content freely within a certain scope; this tiered licensing model may preserve space for meme culture to exist. After all, the dagger that kills memes will ultimately wound the life of internet culture.