- The European Parliament allowed the suspicionless mass scanning of private communications (Chat Control 1.0) to pass, despite a majority of voting MEPs opposing it, due to procedural rules requiring an absolute majority to reject.
- An exemption for encrypted communications was adopted, but in practice, service providers do not scan these anyway. An amendment to restrict scanning to suspects identified by the judiciary also failed to secure the required majority.
- Critics, including Dr. Patrick Breyer, warn that Chat Control damages democracy, jeopardizes genuine child protection, and serves as a smokescreen that delays real action while overwhelming police with false alarms.
- The interim regulation will remain in effect until 2028 or until a permanent agreement is reached. Negotiations for permanent law (Chat Control 2.0) will resume in September, with disputes over indiscriminate vs. targeted scanning.