No breakthrough in EU debate over chat scanning
The stalled talks highlight the EU’s growing struggle to protect children online without opening the door to mass surveillance of private messages.
EU negotiations over the controversial ‘chat control’ proposal have once again failed to reach a breakthrough, leaving the future of the plan uncertain. The European Commission’s three-year-old proposal aims to curb the spread of child sexual abuse material by allowing authorities to require chat services to screen messages before they are encrypted.
Critics, however, warn that such measures would undermine privacy and amount to state surveillance of private communications.
Under the plan, chat services could only be ordered to scan messages after approval from a judicial authority, and the system would target known child abuse images stored in databases. Text-based messages would not be monitored, according to the Danish EU presidency, which insists that sufficient safeguards are in place.
Despite those assurances, several member states remain unconvinced. Germany has yet to reach a unified position, with Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig stressing that ‘chat control without cause must be taboo in a rule of law.’
Belgium, too, continues to deliberate, with Interior Minister Bernard Quintin calling for a ‘balanced and proportional’ approach between privacy protection and child safety.
The debate remains deeply divisive across Europe, as lawmakers and citizens grapple with a difficult question. How to effectively combat online child abuse without sacrificing the right to private communication?
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!