European Parliament Approves Private Message Scanning Through 2028 Under 'Chat Control' Rules
European Union legislators have once again granted technology companies permission to scan private messages for abusive content, though fully encrypted communications remain protected.
Legislation enabling technology companies to examine private messages for child sexual abuse material through 2028 has received approval from the European Parliament, a measure that opponents have labeled "chat control" and consider highly contentious.
On Thursday, a majority of EU legislators did not vote in favor of prolonging the regulation known as "Chat Control 1.0," though blocking it would have required 361 lawmakers to vote against it. The final tally showed 314 voting to halt the law, while 276 backed its continuation.
The parliamentary decision moves forward the restoration of "chat control" regulations that lapsed in April, sparking heated debate among those advocating for privacy rights and cryptographic protections, given that the law as initially conceived undermines the fundamental principles of message encryption.
However, the Parliament did approve a carve-out that excludes "communications to which end-to-end encryption is, has been or will be applied," representing a modest triumph for encryption advocates.
Markéta Gregorová, a Member of the European Parliament representing the Pirate Party whose organization introduced the proposal to protect end-to-end encrypted communications, characterized the outcome as "a bittersweet victory."
Protecting encryption was one of our priorities, and I am therefore glad that we managed to secure an absolute majority for an amendment that at least preserves encryption. At the same time, however, voluntary mass scanning unfortunately passed.
Those in favor of the legislation maintain it serves a critical function in safeguarding children and fighting the distribution of abusive content.
The legislative measures with their amendments will now return to the Council of the EU, an institution composed of ministers from the union's member states who hold the authority to either approve or reject the proposed regulations.
Chat Control battle "just getting started"
Thursday's parliamentary vote follows the European Parliament's approval on Tuesday of a seldom-utilized urgent procedure that召回 brought representatives back to cast votes on whether to prolong a legal structure for regulations that had expired in April.
Following the expiration of that framework, messaging services like WhatsApp have been permitted to implement their own voluntary approaches to identify individuals distributing abusive content.
In March, Parliament had turned down a temporary prolongation of the program while a new permanent iteration of the regulation, referred to as "Chat Control 2.0," remained under consideration, before the European People's Party, Parliament's largest bloc, resurrected the extension through the urgent procedure vote on Tuesday.
The party had predominantly opposed extending the regulations in March due to amendments that limited the reach of scanning capabilities, but its leader, Manfred Weber, has been seeking methods to advance the extension without modifications.
Breyer, the former MEP, stated that the "political battle over the permanent 'Chat Control 2.0' is just getting started."
The resistance we saw in Parliament today was so strong that finding a majority for permanent, suspicionless mass scanning in future negotiations is a complete pipe dream.
Discussions regarding the permanent legislation, known as "Chat Control 2.0," are scheduled to recommence in September, with representatives debating whether message examination should be focused and targeted or implemented more comprehensively.