Representatives of EU member states reached an agreement on Wednesday in the EU Council to advance the controversial "Chat Control" regulation on child sexual abuse, paving the way for new rules targeting abusive child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on messaging applications and other online services.
Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard stated, "Millions of documents depicting child sexual abuse are shared every year… This is completely unacceptable. Therefore, I am pleased that member states have finally reached a consensus on the way forward, which includes several obligations for communication service providers."
The agreement was reached after years of divergence and deadlock between member states and privacy organizations, allowing the legislative document to enter final negotiations with the European Parliament, discussing when and how platforms will be required to scan user content for suspected child sexual abuse and grooming activities.
The existing CSAM framework is set to expire on April 3, 2026, and is expected to be replaced by new legislation, pending detailed negotiations with Members of the European Parliament.
The EU's efforts to make private message scanning mandatory faced setbacks earlier this month, with mandatory client-side scanning removed from the latest draft proposal. Wording was also added to ensure that providers do not overburden themselves with detection obligations:
In the latest draft, the EU Council maintains the core CSAM framework but requires service providers to cooperate with the newly established EU Center for Child Sexual Abuse to support the implementation of the regulation.
While the latest EU Council text removed the explicit obligation to scan all private messages, the legal basis for "voluntary" CSAM detection has been indefinitely extended.
To break the Chat Control deadlock, a group of Danish negotiators in the Council worked to remove the most controversial element: the comprehensive mandatory scanning requirement. Under previous provisions, end-to-end encrypted services like Signal and WhatsApp would have been required to systematically search for illegal material in user messages.
Nevertheless, this is a compromise that leaves both sides feeling shortchanged. According to a report by Politico on Thursday, law enforcement officials warned that abusive content will still lurk in the corners of fully encrypted services, while digital rights organizations believe the agreement still paves the way for broader monitoring of private communications and mass surveillance.
Javier Zarzalejos, the chief negotiator and chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, urged the Council and Parliament to enter negotiations immediately. He emphasized the importance of establishing a legislative framework to prevent and combat online child sexual abuse while respecting encryption.
He stated, "I am committed to working with all political groups, committees, and member states of the Council in the coming months to reach an agreement on a legally sound and balanced legislative text that helps effectively prevent and combat online child sexual abuse."
The Council praised the latest efforts to protect children from online sexual abuse; however, former Dutch MP Rob Roos criticized the Council's actions as akin to "East German times, depriving 450 million EU citizens of their privacy rights." He warned that Brussels is acting "behind closed doors," and "Europe risks sliding into digital authoritarianism."
Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, pointed out that EU officials are exempt from monitoring their messages. In a post on X, he commented, "The EU is using people's strong emotions about child protection to push for mass surveillance and censorship. Their surveillance law proposal conveniently exempts EU officials from scanning their own messages."
The latest developments in Chat Control come amid a broader crackdown on privacy tools globally. European regulators and law enforcement agencies have pushed high-profile cases against crypto privacy projects like Tornado Cash, while U.S. authorities have targeted developers associated with Samurai Wallet on allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations, placing privacy-protecting software in the crosshairs.
In response, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin doubled down on privacy rights as a core value. He donated 128 ETH (approximately $760,000) each to decentralized messaging projects Session and SimpleX Chat, deeming them essential for "protecting our digital privacy."
Session President Alexander Linton told Cointelegraph that regulatory and technological developments are "threatening the future of private messaging," while co-founder Chris McCabe stated that the current challenge is to raise global awareness.
Related: UK FCA tests industry cryptocurrency disclosure in sandbox pilot
Original article: “Europe's New Chat Police: Chat Control Legislation Advances in the EU”
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