On July 23, EU governments confirmed the interim "chat control" regime, effective until 3 April 2028, allowing platforms to voluntarily scan for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The measure was approved by written procedure, with 25 in favour, one against, and one abstention.
The text aligns with the version passed by MEPs on July 9 and excludes end-to-end encrypted services such as WhatsApp and Signal. This decision now shapes the bigger, still-unresolved fight over a permanent, potentially mandatory scanning law.
The Commission's solution
The Commission proposed its regulation on preventing and combating child sexual abuse on 11 May 2022, nicknamed “Chat Control 2.0.” It would apply EU-wide regardless of where a company is based, replacing a narrower, temporary 2021 law that lets platforms scan voluntarily under a carve-out from ePrivacy rules, extended more than once and now running until 3 April 2028. The proposal also creates a new EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse, to coordinate detection technology and forward confirmed cases to Europol and national police.
The Commission’s main argument centers on the scale of the problem. A European Parliament briefing reported over 20.5 million suspected CSAM cases in 2024 alone. Europol warns that abuse material is increasingly shared on mainstream platforms as offenders exploit encryption and anonymity. Supporters argue that voluntary reporting is too fragmented to address the issue effectively.
