EU "Chat Control" Survives Vote, But Crypto Lovers Got One Tiny Win 🔐

The European Parliament on Thursday voted to extend a legal framework allowing tech firms to scan private messages for child sexual abuse material until 2028, in a contentious decision that has drawn sharp criticism from privacy and cryptography advocates. The extension of "Chat Control 1.0" advanced despite opposition, with 276 lawmakers supporting the measure and 314 voting against; rejection required an absolute majority of 361 votes.

The legislation, which originally expired in April, mandates that messaging platforms scan communications for abusive content. In a narrow win for privacy advocates, Parliament passed an amendment exempting "communications to which end-to-end encryption is, has been or will be applied." Pirate Party MEP Markéta Gregorová, whose party put forward the exemption, called the outcome a "bittersweet victory." "Protecting encryption was one of our priorities, and I am therefore glad that we managed to secure an absolute majority for an amendment that at least preserves encryption. At the same time, however, voluntary mass scanning unfortunately passed," she said.

The Thursday vote followed a Tuesday procedural move in which the European Parliament approved a rarely used urgent procedure by a tally of 331 in favor, 304 against and 11 abstentions, setting up the floor vote. The European People's Party, led by Manfred Weber, revived the extension after Parliament rejected a similar temporary proposal in March by a vote of 311 against, 228 for and 92 abstentions. Gregorová accused the EPP of "abusing its position as the largest political group to bring back, through a procedural loophole, a proposal that Parliament had already rejected," calling the maneuver "unprecedented."

Since the framework lapsed in April, services such as WhatsApp have been permitted to apply their own voluntary measures to identify those sharing abusive material. EU member states last month agreed to reinstate an interim "chat control" measure, allowing providers to detect, report, and remove abusive material until 2028. The amended legislation now returns to the Council of the EU, where ministers from member nations will approve or reject the final text.

Former MEP Patrick Breyer said the "political battle over the permanent 'Chat Control 2.0' is just getting started," noting that "the resistance we saw in Parliament today was so strong that finding a majority for permanent, suspicionless mass scanning in future negotiations is a complete pipe dream." Negotiations on the permanent version are scheduled to resume in September, with lawmakers divided over whether message scanning should be targeted or applied broadly.