The EU has approved a temporary derogation allowing messaging services to resume mass scanning of private chats to detect child sexual abuse material, with end-to-end encrypted messages exempt. The European Parliament previously supported the compromise after a prior agreement expired in April. National capitals must formally confirm the measure in writing by Thursday, and the exemption is due to remain in force until April 2028 while a permanent solution is developed.
EU Approves Temporary Chat-Scanning Rules To Combat Child Sexual Abuse — Encryption Exempt
A child's hand pressing a key of a laptop keyboard. Record levels of web pages hosting child sexual abuse imagery were discovered in 2024, a leading online safety organisation has said. Record levels of web pages hosting child sexual abuse imagery were discovered in 2024, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK online safety organization, has said. (is associated with: «EU agrees on online chat monitoring to fight child sex abuse») Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire/dpa
The European Union has reached a new agreement to allow the mass scanning of private messages on messaging platforms within the bloc to help detect child sexual abuse material, EU diplomats told dpa on Wednesday. The measures reinstate a temporary derogation from EU data-protection rules that had lapsed earlier this year.
Under the arrangement, messaging providers operating in the EU will again be permitted to scan non-encrypted private chats for indicators of child sexual abuse. End-to-end encrypted communications are explicitly exempted from these searches. The European Parliament previously backed the compromise.
The breakthrough follows the expiry in April of a prior temporary agreement, when EU governments failed to agree new terms in time. The new derogation still requires formal written confirmation from national capitals — expected by Thursday afternoon — and is set to remain in force until April 2028 while lawmakers work on a permanent solution.
Supporters say the temporary measure restores a tool for identifying and removing child abuse material quickly; critics warn it raises privacy and civil-liberties concerns. Lawmakers and member states now face the task of designing a long-term legislative framework that balances child protection, user privacy and data-security safeguards.
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