MEPs have voted in favour of extending an exemption to privacy legislation, allowing companies to voluntarily detect and report child sexual abuse material on their platforms. The ePrivacy Directive is due to expire on 3 April; however, MEPs say the voluntary measures need to be extended until 3 August 2027 to make way for a permanent legal framework that prevents sexual abuse material existing online.
With 458 votes in favour, and 103 against, the general consensus among MEPs was that the voluntary measures should remain “proportional” and “targeted”, and technology should only detect abuse material that has already been identified as such, or flagged as potential CSAM by a user.
After the vote, rapporteur Birgit Sippel (S&D, Germany) said: “We have a responsibility to address the horrific crime of child sexual abuse while safeguarding everyone’s fundamental rights.
This interim derogation, which I support, is a temporary, strictly limited instrument allowing providers to continue voluntary detection measures under specific conditions. At the same time, this extension must uphold end-to-end encryption. Reducing the scope of the extension to previously identified and hashed child sexual abuse material, and material raised by flaggers, is both necessary and justified for a proportionate framework that will withstand judicial scrutiny and provide sustainable protection for children.”
Parliament will now review the request before the temporary exemption expires in a few days. Equally, Parliament has been poised to negotiate a permanent framework since 2021 but dodged a proposal back in March to extend it until August 2027.
Over half of respondents (57%) to this survey believe companies taking accountability for detecting this harmful material will lead to a safer online environment. Meanwhile, 20% were prepared to protest the regulation, believing that Chat Control 2.0 could threaten freedom of speech in the online environment.
