European Commission calls for suspending parts of new privacy rules to protect children online

To protect children online, the European Commission (EC) is suggesting suspending part of a new privacy directive that is set to come into force at the end of December for a period of five years. The articles the EC wants to be suspended are related to making watermarks on videos and pictures private and the detection of online grooming. The EC feels these measures could prevent the voluntary reporting of online images of child abuse. However, some experts have expressed concern that these measures will not address the issue of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM).