EU revives Chat Control, despite EU Parliament’s opposition
The EU Council approved a temporary law aimed at countering child pornography, but a larger battle over permanent “Chat Control” remains unresolved.
Most Europeans probably missed the news during the summer break, but the EU quietly revived the controversial Chat Control framework in July.
After Parliament rejected its extension in March, the Council revived the Chat Control measure and reinstated the temporary rule until April 2028. Although a majority of members voted against the proposal, they failed to reach the 360-vote threshold required to reject it at its second reading.
The adopted interim structure allows online providers to voluntarily scan, detect, and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM), while negotiations over a permanent framework continue.
Parliament also adopted two amendments excluding end-to-end encrypted messaging services such as Signal and WhatsApp from the rule, clearing the above voting threshold, while still stressing that the temporary measure does not prejudge the upcoming permanent regulation.
The temporary framework is now in place, but a permanent Chat Control law is still under deliberation. Key unresolved issues include mandated CSAM detection, encrypted content, and privacy safeguards.
The EU’s fight against CSAM continues, but the proposed methods used to detect it raises broader questions about privacy and government surveillance.
Ella Jakubowska, Head of Policy at European Digital Rights (EDRi), previously argued that there is “no justification for scanning everyone’s private communications,” and that doing so would enable mass surveillance.
Requiring government access to end-to-end encrypted communication would also undermine the premise of private communication. The regulatory burden and costs of compliance and technological upgrades could also potentially disadvantage smaller firms and startups compared to larger, better-resourced platforms.
The temporary battle over Chat Control may be over for now, but the larger fight over its permanence is still ahead. The question isn’t just whether governments should fight child abuse, but how much access they should have to private digital communications—and the EU’s next decision could help define how much privacy Europeans retain in their daily lives.