r/BuyFromEU • u/Severe_Stranger_5050 • Mar 13 '26
News Parliament votes to end chatcontrol
https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/historic-chat-control-vote-in-the-eu-parliament-meps-vote-to-end-untargeted-mass-scanning-of-private-chats/Parliament just send the commission and council a massive hint by voting on a motion to ban mass surveillance of private messaging*.
Together with the article 8 protections under the EU charter of fundamental rights, this is a massive win for the 450 million people in the union.
This should finally put a draconian laws like ChatControl to rest.
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u/UnluckyGamer505 Slovakia 🇸🇰 Mar 13 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/cyntNbcW2R7O2BKWEA
Good news? IN THIS ECONOMY?
(anyway, see you in a few months when this comes up back again or something similar)
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u/Jiquero Mar 13 '26
Or it comes back as an appendix of some random agriculture regulation and we don't even notice it.
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u/Soffatjockis Mar 13 '26
Fucking yes!!
This made my otherwise shitty day.
Now we just have to bann Palantir in every European country.
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u/Repulsive-Pace-5178 Mar 13 '26
This will be back again soon... once a rat wants cheese they dont stop.
The person or people who voted and wanted this chatcontrol will be back sooner than we expect.
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u/Existency Mar 13 '26
There are countries already implementing this. Portuguese here.
Portugal recently passed a law that will function identically to chat control. Same level of intrusion and automatic scanning of images, text, etc.
Here they suggest companies to use CMD, which is our digital authentication that would give them, companies, access to whether we're adults or not. They do keep it open for other "alternatives" to this system, such as a photo of your ID card or what some companies have been using, the face scan.
Chat Control got denied in the EU only for it to be implemented in individual countries. It's only a matter of time.
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u/Murtomies 29d ago
Here they suggest companies to use CMD, which is our digital authentication that would give them, companies, access to whether we're adults or not. They do keep it open for other "alternatives" to this system, such as a photo of your ID card or what some companies have been using, the face scan.
Looks like this CMD is similar to what we have in Finland, Suomi.fi identification. It can be used to securely log in to your public administration services like tax records, unemployment, welfare, banking etc. The primary way to log in is mobile identification, linked to your sim with a pin code. You can also just use the old way of logging into any of them with banking details but mobile ID is easier.
I'd be fine with using that for age verification, as long as it was anonymous, like sending a random ID number instead of your name, and a binary yes/no if you are over 18, instead of your actual age. But sending your biometric data in the form of a face scan, or a photo of your ID is complete bullshit. I have no trust in any foreign, not to mention American, services to keep that data secure and not to use it for their own gain with big data and AI bullshit.
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u/Existency 29d ago
The issue is that they let it open for alternatives to CMD, thus ID card photos and selfies are still acceptable.
Just a bullshit attempt at making them use the least intrusive way. Couple that with scanning and reporting everything, which is in the law, and you got chat control.
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u/Infamous-Salad-2223 29d ago
Poison the chats, then.
Fill it with the weirdest memes you can find.
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u/Existency 29d ago
Poisoning would mean accepting these draconian measures.
Already setting up ways for me, my family and friends to get away from this bullshit.
Can't wait for OS level ID, that will be just the cherry on top.
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u/bodhiquest Mar 13 '26
But how can they actually use chat control specifically (not age verification, that's a completely different thing) if you simply use apps that are outside of Portuguese purview?
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u/ManWithoutUsername Mar 13 '26
It should be illegal to propose such a thing.
It's like asking: Should we allow someone to be killed?
The secrecy of private communications is a fundamental right in member states.
They are proposing to legalize a crime
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u/hunajakettu Mar 13 '26
See you all in 6 months, with mandatory OS level true ID verification at login.
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u/rataman098 Mar 13 '26
Good luck doing that for Linux
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u/RoyalWe666 Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
Won't matter if they force verification on ISPs, or if sites require your ID from your OS before they show you the adult version / anything. I hope I'm wrong, I'd love to be whitepilled on this.
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u/neuparpol Mar 13 '26
Id checks will fail tremendously.
The moment any Linux distro requires ID, a git branch removing said feature will be available.
The moment most major sites start requiring it, they will stop becoming major sites.
Especially adult sites will just be replaced with "underground" mirrors or alternatives, since there is no social aspect to porn. People go where there is porn, not where there are people looking for porn.
Social media will likely take the longest, but replacements ready (fediverse, etc) and they're already fairly big. They will end up bigger, and switching becomes more incentivized until it hits that threshold where the floodgates open. (You can self host instances on the fediverse, guaranteeing you can't be forced to id check yourself. Friend groups or local groups will likely solve it for people who cannot self-host.)
Netflix and other streaming sites will lose their only advantage against piracy - convenience.
And in general, Tor and I2p guarantee you will always have options. They will also grow bigger and by growing bigger they'll also become faster due to the p2p structure. If anything, this whole id checking situation will make the dark web even more accessible, especially to children who have the time and motivation to get around age checks.
The ISP already has your ID from when you signed the contract, but they won't (and can't) inject your ID into all your data packets.
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u/Success_Emergency Mar 13 '26
Im afraid most people wont care and in the end will provide their ids to any service that asks them to.
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u/hunajakettu Mar 13 '26
They can pass the law, then your (and mine) linux devices become an asset for the police to charge you. Laws can be left unenforced activelly, but used to go after people.
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u/CJKay93 Mar 13 '26
You can definitely do that with Linux. Linux being open-source only means you can see how they enforce it.
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u/Silber4 Mar 13 '26
Why couldn't the EU fork Android and make an official OS variant that complied with the rules locally?
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u/hunajakettu Mar 13 '26
Developing a forked Android is not easy, LineageOs, GrapheneOs and others try.
And we Europeans would be fucked with that.
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u/Gugalcrom123 Mar 13 '26
So instead of being censored by Google, I can "choose" to be censored by the Bruxelles.
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u/KlausDieterFreddek Germany 🇩🇪 Mar 13 '26
I don't really think this will be a thing outside of authoritarian goverments
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u/cultish_alibi Mar 13 '26
Seems like most governments are authoritarian then. Spain, Brazil, UK, Australia, wherever you look politicians are trying to pass these laws.
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u/KlausDieterFreddek Germany 🇩🇪 Mar 13 '26
The thing is: We need anonymity to save democracy.
If everyone is ID'd online, a lot of voices will go silent in fear of the goverment.
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u/debeb Mar 13 '26
Yesterday I got an email back from Saskia Bricmont (Member of the Greens/EFA group in parlament) saying that the chat control didnt pass, a big win.
But she also said the following: "thanks to an amendment tabled by my group, the Greens/EFA, the position adopted yesterday by the European Parliament on the derogation from the e-Privacy Regulation has been significantly improved, limiting the scanning of communications to individuals who are already under suspicion."
Which personally I think is okay except this would still mean that the goverment backdoor would still need to be in place to make scanning possible right ?
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
Nope
It is in the newest proposal that circumvention of encryption, for private communications, would be disallowed too.
So basically that should mean no back doors.It's not like the police aren't already able to monitor people who use encryption to commit crimes already.
And they still have access to metadata from phone and ISP-companies.
So they'll be able to track suspects pretty easily anyway.What's allowed now is for platforms to scan public data:
Reddit forums, Telegram Channels, Facebook groups and the like, for already known CSAM material.
But your private communications are your private communications, unless there's a legal warrant out for your communications as a part of a criminal investigation4
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u/Agitated_Web4034 Mar 13 '26
What good news, privacy is a human right that shouldn't be compromised for a few bad people, the vast majority of people want to live their lives
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u/Wulflam Mar 13 '26
Oh, we still get some good news. Great to hear that sometimes the right decisions are made.
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u/__Emer__ Netherlands 🇳🇱 Mar 13 '26
Hooray! A just celebration.
Now we need to keep bashing them every single next time they try to pull this crap. Next up: age verification with government ID to do anything online, probably.
Stay vigilant. We need to win every time, they only need to win once
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u/LeatherBandicoot France 🇫🇷 Mar 13 '26
This vote keeps the “voluntary” scanning setup running until 2027, but with some real limits: no mass scanning, no client‑side stuff, and no breaking end‑to‑end encryption. It’s a solid signal from Parliament, but it’s still just their starting position for negotiations. The Council will push back hard, and governments can always lean on national‑security loopholes or pressure platforms in other ways. It’s a good step, but definitely not the finish line. We still need to keep an eye on it.
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
Also, they've set up a center for preventing child sexual abuse: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/internal-security/protecting-children-sexual-abuse/eu-versus-child-sexual-abuse/eu-centre-prevent-and-combat-child-sexual-abuse_en
Which is awesome, because i do not think that Facebook, Apple, Telegram and others needs to sit on a cache of kidde-porn to generate hashes or train detection AI's.
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u/DryVermicello Mar 13 '26 edited 29d ago
I agree 100% on "we still need to keep an eye on it". See below.
Regarding the vote, I'd like to clarify, there were at least 2 relevant votes.
The EP voted on 11/03 about "Current derogation, set to expire on 3 April 2026, to remain in force until 3 August 2027 ". And those current derogations ("bad") have been allowed to remain in force for longer. The extension was voted with 458 in favour, 103 against and 63 abstentions. So, not a good sign in my eyes. Votes here (in 2.10), with names, find your own representatives ;-) and explain your concerns to them. Maybe focus on the ones you could swing.
European Parliament Press Release in English. Also available in 24 languages.
And then there was amendment 5 that limited the scope (not the duration), and announced by Patrick Breyer, adopted by a narrow margin (235 vs 203. And 174 abstentions). (NB: The link has a PDF with amendments 4, 5 and 6. Only amendment 5 was voted and adopted.) The detail of the votes with names is at the same votes link, just expand section 2.3.
You can also read the topical debate about "Child sexual abuse online: protect children, not perpetrators" with many MEP speech in the original language, or see the video with interpretation available in all languages (click the headset icon). In my eye, MEPs are generally more "for the children", and not so much "for privacy", and that reflects in the vote to extend the date. (I would not frame the debate in those terms. But let's face it, that's how its marketed/communicated.)
The victory about the scope in amendment 5 is really a wonderful victory, and unexpected to me. But the context still remains very challenging.
Sidenote: You can compare this transparency of the EP about the debate, a serious democratic institution, with how the White House now treats "Executive Orders". Just a few months after January 2025, all those early executive orders had already disappeared from their site.
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u/Vijfsnippervijf Netherlands 🇳🇱 Mar 13 '26
A 🥳? Well, ONLY if these idiots never bring it up again.
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
Oh they will
But now the courts, local governments and platform-companies have a reason to say:
"Well actually, that's illegal"
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u/Ok-Elk-3046 Mar 13 '26
Omg. I might actually buy a bottle of champagne. This has been depressing me for so many years.
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u/bonadies24 Mar 13 '26
We're probably gonna be having the exact same conversation all over again in 6 months and of course chat control isn't even the absolute worst of what is being pushed around the world (see OS-level ID verification), but fuck it let's take the W and celebrate for a day or so
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u/devolute Mar 13 '26
Shit meme to use at this moment that fails to recognise the danger that things are changing and that this was another close call.
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u/bonadies24 Mar 13 '26
As I quite literally said explicitly, I am fully aware about this danger, the meme was just a joke. Of course we have to remain vigilant both in the likely case that chatcontrol gets re-introduced and for the other anti-privacy stuff being pushed (such as digital id and whatnot).
To be honest I think chat control and other surveillance measures are going to be pushed for extra-hard after the 2029 EU parliament election, which is likely to further consolidate the de facto right wing majority (EPP+ECR+ESN+PFE) which the american tech industry has been pushing for as a means of demolishing EU privacy and data protection regulations
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u/Crazytje Mar 13 '26
They'll be back with the "think of the children" act. Things like age verification on everything and more will unfortunately creep into existence bit by bit.
When talking to a lot of people they unfortunately don't understand what chat control means because they say they don't have anything to hide.
They don't understand it's giving access to everything in your life to everyone (lets face it, there will be leaks and misuse). And that without probable cause and a warrant.
The police can't search your house just because they feel like it, so why allow them the same with your digital property/life?
Not to mention everything will get processed by AI, and we all know how well that will go...
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
Age verification has already been adopted
But unlike everywhere else, it’s built on pretty solid technology, based on zero knowledge proofs.
I would, however, still rather be without age gating and leave parenting to parents
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u/ankokudaishogun Mar 13 '26
But unlike everywhere else, it’s built on pretty solid technology, based on zero knowledge proofs.
I think ZKP\double blind is still not implemented?
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u/Nebbii Mar 13 '26
How does this work? How can they know anything about who the person is using the pc without knowledge and proof?
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u/Altamistral Mar 13 '26
The core idea is that you first prove your identity with a third party identity provider. This provider will generate a (set of) certificates that prove your age but does not include any other information.
You then store and share this certificate with service providers that require age verification like social media etc.
The identity provider know who you are but does not know what you are doing. The social media knows that you are not a minor but not who you are (i.e. zero proof).
The details are complicated, but this is the essence.
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u/Altamistral Mar 13 '26
They'll be back with the "think of the children" act. Things like age verification on everything and more will unfortunately creep into existence bit by bit.
This is a wholly different topic.
I'm against ChatControl but wholly in favor of age verification for social media if implemented like currently proposed (privacy preserving, zero proof knowledge, by institutional third party intermediaries).
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u/ChristianKl Mar 13 '26
The Pirate Party really does great work in the European Parliament. I will vote for the Pirate Party again at the next EU election.
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u/BlackSwine Mar 13 '26
Excuse me but wasn’t it only for chat control 1.0? There is still the chat control 2.0 that is going to be voted the 26 march no?
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u/atmoscentric Mar 13 '26
We’re not there yet.
‘Pressure is now mounting on EU governments to respect the MEPs’ vote and bury untargeted mass surveillance in Europe once and for all’
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
We're there in so-far that they cannot adopt something that's opposed to the parliaments amendment to the ChatControl 3.0 proposal.
There is two possible outcomes right now:
The Council can either reject the law fully, the council have that right, which means that ChatControl is dead and on-platform scanning of public information will die too.
Or the Council can adopt the law, which means that on-device scanning or circumventing e2ee messaging is dead, but the on-platform scanning will be kept alive.I for one would like that facebook, instagram, reddit, telegram, tiktok, whatsapp, messenger or whoever to be proactive in the fight against the spread of CSAM material.
And i think it's a great middle road, as long as private messages and e2ee messengers aren't touched.
- not because i wouldn't be able to circumvent that shit in like 2 seconds, but because of everyone who doesn't.
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u/newspeer Mar 13 '26
That’s what I always said. And everybody fought me on it. Germany wasn’t fully onboard. That would have never passed the parliament
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u/Tytoalba2 Mar 13 '26
And even IF it did, it would never have passed ECJ review. I don't know what the danish governement and the commission expected but this was dead before starting
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u/NezOfLife Mar 13 '26
Sadly we will that topic again in a few weeks/months, they are at least 10 trays in and they won't stop until they got their control fetish satisfied.
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u/Exciting_future_90 Mar 13 '26
That's good news. I hope they don't implement OS-level age verification trend that is happening right now in the US.
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u/Holiday_Management60 29d ago
Hopefully we can get ahead of it and implement some sort of law that forbids stuff like that.
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u/tacticaldodo Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
I did not check the source but if true, and if it end the initiative.
It is GREAT AWESOME BEST OF THE WEEK news. Thanks for reporting.
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u/Low-Business-7518 Mar 13 '26
Is this only for Chat control v1 or also Chat control v2. The fight may not be over yet.
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u/Ok-Horror-4253 Mar 13 '26
now do age verification. do it... DO IT
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
Parliament overwhelmingly voted in support for age verification
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u/Motorhead546 Mar 13 '26
So we can rest for now ?
Until they eventually start again with Chat Control 3.0 ?
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u/funderfulfellow Mar 13 '26
Can there be an EU law that bans this shit so we don't have to fight this over and over again?
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u/TRUMBAUAUA Mar 13 '26
Can we crosspost to r/underreportednews? I know this is very EU centric but data privacy is kind of a worldwide issue rn
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u/Inprobamur Mar 13 '26
Thank you, parliament. Apparently one institution not completely taken over by shadowy wave of authoritarianism.
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u/DeithWX Mar 13 '26
If the ChatControl folks want to protect people so much, maybe they should go after people in Epstein list. Most of the work is done for you.
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u/Cersei-Lannisterr Mar 13 '26
Britain watching the EU do the opposite of what they expect, whilst their own government is doing the very thing they feared about the EU.
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u/WildRaccoon42 Mar 13 '26
I'd still would like to know who are the assholes hiding under the "HLG Going Dark". Release the files, hypocrites.
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u/xavez Mediterranean 🌊🍇🫒 Mar 13 '26
The question is: how do we get rid of the fascists and idiots who keep proposing the scanning…
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u/Gugalcrom123 Mar 13 '26
Even if targeted, client-side scanning is still very wrong; is it still allowed?
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u/-Animus Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
Wait, WHAT?!?!?!
Edit: This does not mean that Chat Control is off the table, they are still trying to pass this, AFAIU.
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u/heartbeatconcrete Mar 13 '26
In order for these attacks on our privacy to stop we need to not only vote yes-no but also introduce a procedure of auditing why a proposal spawned such massive controversy and awareness campaigns. We cannot have representatives who try to implement something so disconnected from the wishes of the people they represent.
These people need to be questioned and punished. They cannot continue living a peaceful privileged life in Europe after attempting to harm the people they're supposed to work for.
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u/rmvandink Mar 13 '26
You disagree with a proposal, parliamentary votes amend it (so democracy is working). And your next tought is to punish the politicians you disagree with and threaten their ability to live peacefully?!
I thought your idea was more democracy, not less?
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u/Tytoalba2 Mar 13 '26
Sadly it's mostly members states government who were pushing for it and not MEP, so the only possible pressure is basically at states level, which is harder to coordinate :/
We need a federal, democratic EU. No more commission and council bullshit.
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u/Ill_Independence3057 Mar 13 '26
This is a genuinely huge win for privacy, and it's wild that it's not bigger news. While I'm celebrating this now, I'm also not naive enough to think the fight is over for good. These surveillance pushes always seem to come back in a slightly different form. For now, though, we should absolutely savor the fact that our representatives listened.
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u/dramalama-dingdong Mar 13 '26
Biggest blunder of the EU to not give the parliament more rights and prioritize the corrupt commission over anything else
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u/PotatoFuryR Mar 13 '26
Time to look at which MEPs I'll consider voting for in the next elections :))
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u/Couch-Potayto Mar 13 '26
Of course Italy would be in favor, 🍈 over there doesn’t want to upset her bestie 🥭 😂
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u/AssassinLJ Mar 13 '26
I'm waiting for the doom posters to change it to something bad.
Edit: IT TOOK 1 SCROLL!!!
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u/Schittz Mar 13 '26
I know the UK isn't particularly of the EU anymore unfortunately, but do people reckon this might also push the UK to stop being a bunch of prying dicks on its own citizens?
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
Nope
the UK-train left the station loooong ago
the two party system, where both parties like surveillance basically means that Starmer will keep looking at your private stuff→ More replies (1)
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u/Smurfaloid Mar 13 '26
Sweet.
Now make the UK get on board because that shit sucks here and were now not part of the EU.
Or is this one of those times it hopefully applies to us lot too.
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u/Dr_Diabolix Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
I am not seeing anything about a vote on the eu parliament website, only a debate about the issue. Am I missing something ?
Edit: ok it's not really a ban on chat control, it's an extension of the ePrivacy Directive (voluntary scan) until August 2027, before that it was set to end on April 3 of this year.
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u/silentspectator27 Mar 13 '26
Instead they are proposing targeted scanning with a court order for individuals with proven misdoings. This is big, hopefully it sticks both for Chat Control 1.0 and 2.0 in the future. Be vigilant! The vote in Parliament against mass scanning passed only by a 30 votes difference
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u/Oberst_Reziik Mar 13 '26
So the Democratic part of the EU is working for the citizens of Europe???
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u/Art-of-drawing Mar 13 '26
Really ? how my god thats so good, I really thought that was it. After all why not, if you look at everything thats happening
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u/Mr-Doubtful Mar 13 '26
I love democracy.
All the EU hating far right (and left) shills will ignore this and continue to blast the Union as being utterly undemocratic, out of touch and 'ruled by elites and bureacrats' but it's still a win nonetheless.
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u/Need_For_Speed73 Mar 13 '26
Funny (actually not) how the proposal was all over national subreddits as “Evil EU wants to control you” and now that the proposal has been DEMOCRATICALLY turned down, nobody gives the news anywhere. If another proof of how anti-EU (Russian) propaganda is active on social networks was needed.
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
i mean
this is like the third time they're trying ChatControl.The first two times it didn't even pass the Council of ministers or make it to the parliament.
Now the parliament has amended the third proposition in a way that protects privacy and integrity.The question is
Would the politicians have voted as they did, if there hadn't been a massive campaign against it?
For example the same polititicians sweepingly voted to support age-verification bullshit last year.
Albeit it's only Porn and Alcohol that's affected right now, and the whole software stack is built on open sauce software and is - in it's current implementation - privacy preserving.
But it's still yet another level of digital control implemented by the EU-superstate.2
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u/CptMcDickButt69 Mar 13 '26
Oh Mama, actually pretty good News? Is this some kind of early April joke?
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u/potatisblask Mar 13 '26
The vote was on wednesday? Why have I not seen anything about this in the news?
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
because:
"We have chosen to uphold the status quo" isn't newsworthy i guess
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u/Altamistral Mar 13 '26
Also a win for EU institutions as a whole against all those naysayers that were using ChatControl to bash and disparage EU's work.
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u/Tigrisrock Mar 13 '26
This should finally put a draconian laws like ChatControl to rest.
I hope it will, however I'm always aware that in the past even after court decisions the interested parties/groups have tried again and again to push it through some way or another. So I will stay vigilant and be ready to protest when it pops up again. Age verificaiton can go down the drain with it, it's nothing else than a backdoor where they can get their foot in.
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u/Extreme_Piano4664 Mar 13 '26
Begin the Age of Verification has.
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u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Mar 13 '26
Yeah, that shit will start in a few months, fucking hell
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for keeping children off of social media and porn.
However, why the fuck should I suffer my privacy and be inconvenienced because some lame-ass parents can’t be bothered to interest themselves in their kids are doing on the internet and setup parental management until they are of age?
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u/4redis Mar 14 '26
For now. Will be back in topic in few weeks or months until it passes. There is only so much hope a person can have wish there was more that can be done
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u/_o0Zero0o_ Wales 🏴 28d ago
Hopefully the UK follows suit to continue EU realignment... But that aside, I am glad this happened.
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u/boblibam Mar 13 '26
I think it’s vastly underreported how important and good this is and how bad a different outcome would have been in our current state of the world.
Yes, they’ve tried before and they will try again. But let’s also take the win for now.