The EU is abandoning “chat control”, the most controversial measure in its law against child pornography
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The European Union will abandon the most criticized measure in a draft regulation against online pedophilia, namely a technology that would have allowed the scanning of private conversations, a diplomatic source indicated on Thursday.
In 2022, the European Commission presented a draft law aimed at combating the proliferation of images and videos of sexual abuse of children – an initiative that has generated heated debates in recent years, writes the publication La Libre Belgique on Thursday, quoted by Rador Radio Romania.
Backed by several child protection organizations, the proposal aimed to force online platforms and messaging services to detect and report such content.
However, the text was strongly criticized by members of the European Parliament and some countries, such as Germany, who considered it a “disproportionate” violation of the right to private life.
They were particularly concerned about the prospect of using technology that could scan users' private conversations, including those on encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp, for child pornography.
The issue has led to particularly “difficult” discussions between the EU's 27 member states “on privacy and cyber security,” a European diplomatic source explained.
After several years of negotiations, Denmark, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, has finally decided to remove this controversial measure from the text, hoping that it will finally be adopted. And that's because the rules that are currently in place to detect child pornography online are due to expire soon, in April 2026.
This is “a big step forward”, hailed German activist and former MEP Patrick Breyer, a staunch opponent of the measure, dubbed “chat control” by its detractors and the subject of intense mobilization on social media.
A report by the British organization Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) published in 2024 estimated that 62% of child pornography content was hosted on servers physically located in the EU.
