- EU Commissioner backs Parliament's position on targeted CSAM scanning
- Brunner rejected the risks of surveillance, abandoning the term “chat control.”
- Trial negotiations will begin on Tuesday, December 9.
Following final approval by the EU Council, the controversial Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) is now ready for trilogues – the final round of EU legislative negotiations. However, even though this milestone has been passed, the lively debate in Brussels yesterday suggests a contentious path lies ahead.
During a debate in the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) on Thursday 4 December, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner made an assessment that likely caught many present by surprise.
Brunner acknowledged this, although he remains committed to the original. Commission proposal 2022 – he prefers the position of Parliament regarding targeted measures rather than the desire of the Council voluntary non-selective scanning.
“I would prefer the position of the parliament to the position of the Council, because the position of the Council is a compromise of compromises. But I still think the Commission’s proposal is the best proposal,” Brunner said.
Despite this, Brunner categorically rejected the term “Chat management' is the nickname critics have assigned to the bill since its adoption. He also brushed off privacy concerns raised by Marketa Gregorová of the Czech Pirate Party, who compared the proposed voluntary scanning to “forcing every citizen to turn in every letter to the police to have it opened and read before it is allowed to be sent.”
“This is not about controlling chat, this is about protecting our children, this is about fighting pedophiles,” Brunner said.
All eyes now turn to the trilogy of negotiations between the Parliament, the Commission and the Council of the EU, which are due to begin on Tuesday, December 9, with the aim of producing a final, binding text.
The parliament is led by Javier Zarzalejos, chairman of the LIBE committee and rapporteur. He stressed that lawmakers are entering negotiations with a “strong mandate” to targeted measures.
“Parliament is well equipped”
Although the bill has finally reached the required majority in the EU Council, the latest version of Chat Control is far from full support.
Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Netherlands remain opposed to the proposal. They are joined by many experts who claim that this could be “a disaster waiting to happen.“
Although the Danish Presidency has decided to scrap mandatory scanning for all messaging service providers, many believe that the proposed voluntary solution could still lead to privacy and security breaches.
“Let's face it. Voluntary or not, mass scanning is still mass scanning of private messages. And it doesn’t help minors,” Gregorova said, echoing similar concerns from the tech world.
As experts warn that the council's proposal threatens people's privacy, Brunner's stance on more targeted surveillance offers a glimmer of hope for digital rights activists.
“I want to pay tribute to Javier Zarzalejos for bringing parliament together on this important issue,” commented former German Pirate Party MEP and digital rights lawyer Patrick Breuer.
“With this strong mandate on fundamental rights and the fight against indiscriminate surveillance, Parliament is well prepared to fend off governments' attacks on digital privacy and the right to anonymous communication.”
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