EU Parliament greenlights Chat Control 1.0 – Breyer: "Our children lose out"
The European Parliament has approved 'Chat Control 1.0,' a measure allowing for the suspicionless mass scanning of private communications. Critics, including former MEP Patrick Breyer, argue that the move undermines privacy and fails to provide effective child protection.
Why it matters
This legislation represents a significant shift in digital privacy policy within the EU, setting a precedent for surveillance versus encryption debates.
Today, the European Parliament allowed the suspicionless mass scanning of private communications (“Chat Control 1.0”) to pass, a measure it had rejected twice in March. Although a majority of voting Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) actually opposed the regulation (314 against, 276 in favor, 17 abstentions), the motion to reject it failed to secure the required absolute majority of 361 votes. As a result, mass scanning is now permitted again until 2028.
The framing focuses heavily on the criticism from a civil rights activist and characterizes the vote as a 'farce' and 'undemocratic'.
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