EU Parliament limits online message monitoring rules

On Wednesday the European Parliament revised temporary rules that allow the detection of online material depicting child sexual abuse in the EU but that also affect private communications, according to European Conservative.

While the European Commission had proposed extending the current regime largely unchanged until 2028, lawmakers opted for a significantly more limited approach. Under the approved text, message monitoring will not be permitted across the board but only in specific cases where there is reasonable suspicion and the measure is authorised by a court.

Parliament therefore appears to have leaned more towards privacy protection than towards a model of general surveillance. Proactive message scanning has also been removed from the proposal, and the new restrictions are not intended to apply to services that use end-to-end encryption.

The issue was one of the most contentious points of the entire debate. The vote came as the temporary framework introduced in 2021 is set to expire in April while permanent EU legislation has yet to be finalised.

(mja)