EU Parliament Approves Chat Scanning After Controversial Second Vote
The temporary rule lets platforms scan for known child sexual abuse material, while critics warn it weakens privacy and encryption.
- The European Parliament voted on Thursday to extend the temporary ePrivacy derogation, known as Chat Control 1.0, allowing online platforms to voluntarily scan for known child sexual abuse material until April 3, 2028.
- After controversial procedural maneuvers, the extension passed following MEPs' initial rejection on March 26 by 311 votes to 228, with 92 abstentions, after temporary rules lapsed on April 3, 2026.
- Former MEP Patrick Breyer cited European Commission figures showing mass scanning accounted for only 36 per cent of abuse reports, while the German Federal Criminal Police Office found 48 per cent of alerts were not criminally relevant.
- Platforms including Apple, Google, Discord, Snapchat, Instagram, and Xbox may voluntarily scan for known material, though the measure does not mandate scanning or break end-to-end encryption protections.
- Critics argue the extension undermines democratic scrutiny as the permanent Child Sexual Abuse Regulation remains under negotiation in Brussels, leaving genuine protection measures in serious jeopardy.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Online services could soon be able to search for evidence of child abuse in private chats again. The EU Parliament approved in principle a temporary exception to European data protection rules. By Kathrin Schmid.
EU Parliament approves chat scanning after controversial second vote
The European Parliament has approved an extension allowing online platforms to continue voluntarily scanning unencrypted communications for child sexual abuse material until 2028 after a controversial second vote ordered by Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
The European Parliament voted on Thursday for the temporary extension of the already granted permission to companies such as Meta, Microsoft or Google to monitor private online conversations to detect material evidence of sexual abuse against children. The previous agreement on the exemption of messaging services from EU data protection regulations expired in April, ...
The plenary of the European Parliament endorsed this Thursday to reactivate the temporary rule by which the...
The European Parliament voted on Thursday for the temporary extension of the already granted permission to companies such as Meta, Microsoft or Google to monitor private conversations online to detect material clues of sexual abuse against children, informs you.
The European Parliament has voted for a temporary exemption that allows online platforms to voluntarily detect child sexual exploitation online by monitoring private messages.
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