Is the European Union reopening the door for the controversial Chat Control? This time, Cyprus is taking the initiative.
The European ‘Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse’, better known as ‘Chat Control’, keeps resurfacing. Despite criticism from experts and division among member states, it continues to appear on the European agenda time and again. This time, Cyprus is leading the way.
The island has held the presidency of the Council of the European Union since January and wants to make a major impact before passing the torch. Cyprus is reportedly convening the Council—composed of ministers from the member states—in an emergency procedure this week to revive the Chat Control law.
Voluntary monitoring
The key to this is an old measure that expired in April this year. It relied on the voluntary monitoring of chat messages and served as a transitional measure toward the mandatory backdoor that Chat Control seeks to implement. After several extensions, the European Parliament failed to reach an agreement for further extension in the spring. This removed the only legal possibility for monitoring chat messages.
Cyprus wants to reinstate the transitional measure and, above all, not wait too long. An emergency procedure would mean the proposal hits the agenda this week, with a vote by the end of the week before the summer break begins. In doing so, Cyprus is pushing the boundaries of the democratic process, as council members are known to occasionally skip sessions during those final days.
Think of the children
If Cyprus succeeds, it would mean Chat Control is far from dead and buried, even if it only concerns a transitional measure. The actual law is also not yet completely off the table. After Parliament voted down several proposals, Denmark has taken it upon itself to draft a new proposal.
According to the civil society movement Fight Chat Control, this has convinced 23 of the 27 member states. Only Italy is explicitly opposed; the Netherlands, Poland, and the Czech Republic are divided. Belgium has long played a dubious role in the story. It seems that consensus is gradually emerging among the member states.
Privacy experts have been warning about the dangers of Chat Control since the beginning. Under the guise of fighting child pornography, the law seeks to compel chat services to open up citizens’ messaging traffic to police services. While the overarching goal may be noble, opponents fear there is no guarantee that the law won’t be used for other, less noble purposes.