Brussels, Belgium. The European Parliament has extended until 2028 a temporary derogation allowing online platforms to voluntarily scan private communications for child sexual abuse material, after opponents failed to secure the absolute majority required to reject the measure.
The 9 July vote reinstates rules permitting technology companies to monitor messages, photos and emails for illegal content without breaching wider European Union privacy laws.
Privacy concerns
End-to-end encrypted services, including WhatsApp and Signal, remain exempt from the framework. However, digital rights and privacy organisations, along with some members of the European Parliament, have criticised the rules as excessive and described them as “Chat Control.”
Critics argue that the measures amount to mass surveillance and undermine privacy protections.
Simeon de Brouwer of the European Digital Rights association said the rules represented “a big breach of our digital rights and goes against basic EU values.”
He said the framework gave companies, “mostly American ones,” authority to examine emails, photos and videos before reporting material to an American centre that would then inform EU law enforcement.
Permanent legislation
The temporary extension is intended to give EU institutions more time to negotiate permanent legislation. Talks have been stalled for months amid political divisions over civil liberties, but negotiations are expected to resume after the summer.
Supporters of the extension said it was necessary to avoid a legal vacuum that could affect law enforcement efforts.
“This should not be the only tool we have at hand for protecting children, but it is one of the most important tools we have at hand,” said MEP Lena Düpont of the European People’s Party, who advocated for the urgent vote.
“We should never let ourselves be divided over the question of how to best protect our children,” she said.
Other parliamentary groups, including GUE/NGL, have supported strict and targeted detection measures for child sexual abuse material while raising concerns about potential abuse of privacy protections.