EU law against child abuse online: MEPs vote against chat control
In the debate on a law against child abuse on the internet, MEPs have voted against interfering in encrypted chats. The Parliament's Committee on Internal Affairs agreed on Tuesday in Brussels that end-to-end encrypted content may not be searched. With this law, the EU wants to take action against the dissemination of photos and videos showing child sexual abuse.
Internet platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat and pornographic sites such as Youporn are to be forced to report possible abuse and delete such images in line with the EU Commission's proposal. Following the announcement of the law, data protectionists warned that masses of encrypted chats could be spied on in future when searching for suspected paedophiles. According to Parliament's proposal, this would not be possible.
"We were able to avert the mass surveillance of private communications in the draft law", emphasized Patrick Breyer, MEP of the Pirate Party, and spoke of a "success for civil liberties". Parliament's decision means that the Commission's proposal, which was "extremely controversial for good reason", has been "turned on its head", explained Lena Düpont (CDU), the Union's spokesperson on home affairs in the European Parliament.
MEPs from several political groups welcomed the Parliament's position as a compromise between data protection and the protection of children online. The Parliament also places a stronger focus on preventative measures and encourages users to report illegal content, explained Birgit Sippel, the Social Democrats' spokesperson for home affairs.
The EU member states do not yet have a common position on the draft law, but the German government has rejected any intervention in encrypted chats. It is important "not to place every citizen under general suspicion", Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) recently emphasized.
- Despite the EU's efforts to combat child abuse content online, MEPs have chosen to uphold end-to-end encryption, ensuring that encrypted chats on platforms like Facebook and Instagram remain immune to search and interference.
- As a result of the Parliament's decision, a member of the Pirate Party, Patrick Breyer, celebrated the averted potential mass surveillance of private communications, deeming it a "success for civil liberties."
- The EU's law against child abuse online now places a stronger emphasis on preventative measures and encourages users to report illegal content, while the implementation of chat control remains a topic of debate among EU member states.
Source: www.ntv.de
