Chat Control Vote in the EU to End Untargeted Mass Scanning of Private Chats

3 days ago

EU Parliament voted to end untargeted mass scanning of private communications, rejecting unconstitutional surveillance practices.
Amendment 5 limits scanning to individuals or groups suspected of child sexual abuse by judicial authority, aligning with 2023 CSAR mandate.
Trilogue negotiations between EU Parliament, Commission, and Council begin under time pressure, with current interim regulation expiring April 6.
Digital privacy advocates celebrate the vote as a victory, emphasizing secure apps and targeted investigations over mass surveillance.
Chat Control's failures include monopolistic data reporting by Meta, police overload with false positives, and criminalization of minors.
Encryption renders Chat Control obsolete, with a 50% drop in reported chats since 2022 due to end-to-end encryption adoption.
No measurable link between mass surveillance and convictions exists, yet the EU Council pushes for its extension.
Lobbying efforts by tech industry and NGOs exposed, with foreign-funded groups like Thorn driving Chat Control for profit.
The narrative of a 'legal vacuum' without Chat Control is false; public post scanning and user reporting remain permitted.

Hasty Briefsbeta