Political satire has taken on new forms since the dawn of the Internet.

Before, the likes of Monty Python, Dave Allen, Hall's Pictorial Weekly, Yes Minister and so on were the usual avenues of taking a good, firm swipe at the ruling classes - but now the internet has given birth to memes; humorous images or videos that can eloquently - or not so eloquently, as is often the case - skewer political candidates and figures.

While they're most irreverent and fun, some view them as a dangerous precedent. Spain's ruling Popular Party is hoping to enact a law that will see memes outlawed and removed from the internet. The law, it is hoped, will prevent "spreading of images that infringe the honour of a person."

Spain already has a controversial 'gag law' that has seen people fined for taking pictures of people being arrested by police and prevents the unauthorised photography of police. In July, a man was fined by police for leaving a comment on a Facebook page about... police being lazy.

Of course, the proposed law against memes has sparked - you guessed it - a flurry of memes on Twitter and Facebook, which is just the thing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is trying to stamp out. Prime Minister Rajoy was previously in international headlines when he tried to enact laws that would remove the siesta from Spanish society.

 

 

 

Members of Spain's Popular Party, however, have downplayed Prime Minister Rajoy's plans, saying that the only memes that would be targeted would be those that posed a security risk or directly accuse someone falsely of a crime.

 

Via Codigo Nuevo