EU members once again failed to reach an agreement on the European Commission’s proposal to scan all your private communications to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The bill is considered Chat Control by critics and has been a controversial issue from the start. Despite the changes the proposal has undergone, experts continue to warn of the serious consequences of indiscriminately scanning all chats – including encrypted ones – on people’s privacy and data security.
Today, December 12, 2024, the Hungarian EU Presidency held the first public vote on the regulatory proposal, which again failed to obtain a majority. This means that more work is needed before the bill is submitted to Parliament for negotiations.
🇬🇧No majority for #ChatControl again +++ New Commissioner Hahn defends it – unlike his own country +++ Numerous governments (AT,DE,SL,NL,LU,CZ,PL,EE,FI) publicly criticize proposed random # mass surveillance of all users +++ Watch the recording: https://t.co/QYznKPfFe8 pic.twitter.com/xeiz33erqcDecember 12, 2024
Despite everyone recognizing the need to find a balanced solution to these crimes, ten of the 27 EU Member States spoke out against the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) in its current form.
For example, the German representative noted that access to encrypted communications is not the right approach to solve the problem.
Luxembourg also pointed out the existing legal and technical problems with the current provisions, including the need to respect country-by-country proportionality rules when monitoring communications. European Charter of Human Rights. “Our view is that the current detection rules will lead to widespread indiscriminate surveillance,” he added.
Austria, Slovenia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia and Finland also reiterated the need for their countries to abstain from the vote based on similar privacy and security implications.
Belgium, previously undecided and then in favor of the list, also joined governments against the proposal “as we currently have a transitional government, so we cannot take a position on this issue,” a Belgian representative said.
What’s next?
Lawmakers have made some changes to the EU CSAM bill since it was first presented in May 2022, amid mounting criticism from privacy, technology and political circles.
According to the latest version, communications service providers (including encrypted messaging apps and secure email services) are required to scan all photos, videos, and URLs you share with other users upon user consent. However, in order to continue using the functionality, you must agree to have the shared material scanned before it is encrypted.
This so-called ‘upload moderation’ provision still puts people’s privacy and security at risk, according to experts. That is why the privacy response from the technology industry remains strong.
According to data from the European Pirate Party (see tweet above), most EU countries already support the proposal in its current form. This includes countries such as France, Italy and Portugal, which were previously either undecided or strongly against it.
All EU members expressed their strong determination to find a solution to stop crimes related to child sexual abuse, so we can expect further developments on this front in the coming weeks.