EU 'Chat Control' Snoopfest Returns After Vote to Kill It Falls Short
MEPs fell short of the votes needed to stop an interim rule that lets platforms scan chats for child sexual abuse material.
- On Thursday, the European Parliament failed to block the reintroduction of Chat Control 1.0, an interim rule allowing tech companies to voluntarily scan messages for child sexual abuse material, after opponents fell short of the absolute majority required to reject the Council's position.
- EU ambassadors adopted the interim rule on July 2 after Parliament previously rejected it, forcing opponents to secure an absolute majority of 361 votes during Thursday's session rather than a simple majority.
- Although 314 MEPs voted to scrap the measure and 276 voted to keep it, the proposal passed because the anti-surveillance coalition failed to hit the 361-vote threshold needed to overturn the Council's endorsement.
- Parliament did secure a majority to exclude end-to-end encrypted platforms from scanning provisions, though the amended legislation now returns to the Council, which has three months to approve or reject the changes.
- Former MEP Patrick Breyer characterized the interim rule as a vehicle for "suspicionless mass surveillance," warning that the process threatens democracy while the more restrictive Chat Control 2.0 remains under negotiation.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Europe Votes Against Thought-Policing ‘Chat Control’, Brussels Passes It Anyway…
Europe Votes Against Thought-Policing ‘Chat Control’, Brussels Passes It Anyway… On Thursday in Strasbourg, 314 Members of the European Parliament voted to reject the return of “Chat Control,” the legal regime allowing tech companies to scan the private messages of roughly half a billion Europeans. Only 276 voted to keep it. So naturally, the scanning...
EU 'Chat Control' snoopfest returns after vote to kill it falls short
An effort by European parliamentarians to block the reintroduction of an interim rule allowing tech companies to scan chats for evidence of child sexual abuse failed today, despite securing more votes than the MEPs who want to keep it alive. Commonly referred to by critics as Chat Control, or Chat Control 1.0, the interim rule acts as a derogation from the ePrivacy Directive, allowing online communications platforms to voluntarily detect, report…
The EP has supported a derogation from data protection rules. The Chat Control law would also allow access to private chats.
Voluntary monitoring of child abuse must still be approved by the Council of EU countries.
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