Ethical Hacking News
European lawmakers have voted to extend legislation allowing tech companies to scan users' private messages for child sexual abuse material despite opposition from civil rights activists. The decision reinstates permissions for firms including Meta, Google, and Microsoft to scan private text, email, and social media messages through a bill nicknamed “Chat Control” by critics.
The European Parliament has reinstated legislation allowing tech companies to scan users' private messages for child sexual abuse material. The decision is despite a majority of lawmakers voting against the proposal, and has raised concerns about privacy and surveillance. The EPP party argued that firms' voluntary detection activities have helped identify and rescue victims of online child sexual abuse, but others see it as an overreach into personal privacy. Civil rights activists and experts warn that the legislation could lead to tech companies denying users' right to confidential digital conversations.
The recent decision by the European Parliament to extend legislation allowing tech companies to scan users' private messages for child sexual abuse material has sparked a heated debate about privacy and surveillance. Despite a majority of lawmakers voting against the proposal, the ruling reinstates permissions for firms including Meta, Google, and Microsoft to scan private text, email, and social media messages through a bill nicknamed “Chat Control” by critics.
The European Parliament's decision is a result of efforts by the European People's Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament, to bring back tech firms' legal basis to scan messages since a prior law expired in April. Members of the EPP argue that firms' voluntary detection activities have helped identify and rescue victims of online child sexual abuse, and disallowing them leaves children unprotected. They have been rushing to reinstate the legislation before parliament disperses for its summer break at the end of the month.
However, the implications for privacy mean the legislation has faced fierce opposition from other parties and civil rights activists. The EPP resorted to a procedural manoeuvre to force fresh votes on this legislation this week after talks collapsed in March. This “urgent procedure” skips preliminary committee debates where amendments would often be introduced and stipulates that the regulation passes unless an absolute majority of 361 MEPs vote against it.
While more Members of the European Parliament voted against the regulation on Thursday than voted for it, they fell short of that majority by 47 votes. Tech companies will now retain that right to scan messages for child sexual abuse detection until 2028, or until permanent legislation – in discussion and already dubbed “Chat Control” by critics – replaces it.
Civil rights activist and former MEP Patrick Breyer called the ruling a “farce” which “damages democracy”. “Trying to protect children with suspicionless mass surveillance is like frantically mopping the floor while the faucet is still running. Blanket chat control is just as unacceptable as indiscriminately opening everyone’s physical mail,” according to a blog post by Breyer.
The decision has also raised concerns about the potential for tech companies to deny users' right to have confidential digital conversations. Simeon de Brouwer, policy advisor at Brussels-based advocacy group European Digital Rights, warns that “it will mean that private companies may read every message you write, every email you send, every picture you share.”
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Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/A-New-Chapter-in-Surveillance-The-European-Parliaments-Decision-on-Chat-Control-ehn.shtml
https://www.wired.com/story/a-majority-of-european-lawmakers-voted-against-letting-big-tech-read-our-messages-theyre-going-to-anyway/
Published: Thu Jul 9 09:04:18 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
