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Chat Control isnt dead, Denmark has a new proposal  heres all we know

Date:
Wed, 05 Nov 2025 16:50:06 +0000

Description:
Denmark withdraws the mandatory scanning of all our private chats in the EU.
Yet, the Chat Control battle is still up and going.

FULL STORY

After months of backlash, Denmark has withdrawn a proposal that would have
forced mandatory chat monitoring on all messaging services operating in
Europe. Yet, the battle for private chats is still ongoing. 

Nicknamed Chat Control by its critics, the Danish version of the Child Sexual
Abuse Regulation (CSAR) was first halted the day before a crucial meeting
scheduled for October 14 between the EU Council and the EU Justice Minister
due to a lack of support. 

According to the now-defunct proposal, all messaging platforms would have 
been required to scan all URLs, pictures, and videos shared by their users in
the lookout for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). 

Encrypted services like Signal and WhatsApp were expected to do so before the
messages were encrypted. A requirement that the likes of Signal, the best VPN
providers, and other experts have warned is not compatible with how 
encryption works. 

Now, with mandatory chat scanning off the table, Denmark has put forward a 
new compromise that would make CSAM monitoring voluntary. 

"The new approach is a triumph for the digital freedom movement and a major
leap forward when it comes to saving our fundamental right to confidentiality
of our digital correspondence," commented long-standing Chat Control critic
Patrick Breyer. 

A former MEP for the German Pirate Party and digital rights jurist, Breyer
isn't ready to celebrate just yet. While being a crucial improvement, the new
Danish proposal still leaves some issues open for Europeans' privacy and
security.

"Half-good proposal" 

As per the text shared by the Danish Presidency, the October 30 compromise
proposes removing all provisions on detection obligations included in the 
bill (Articles 7 to 11). These are the obligations to monitor all users' chat
activities. 

Voluntary CSAM scanning would then be made permanent and included in Article 
4 as a possible mitigation measure. 

Yet, the Danish Presidency still leaves a door open for mandatory scanning by
planning to introduce a "review clause." 

This would invite the Commission to "assess the necessity and feasibility of
including detection obligations in the future." A process that could "lead to
a new legislative proposal by the Commission," including new directives on
detection obligations. 

It's worth remembering that the European Commission was the first to include
mandatory chat scanning in its Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) proposal
in May 2022  as a solution to the spread of child sexual abuse material
(CSAM). 

This, Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy at the Internet Society,
Callum Voge, told TechRadar, allows for the file to be revisited in the 
future if new detection technologies are developed as alternatives to
client-side scanning. 

"This is likely a negotiation tactic from Denmark to appease hard-line Member
States that have thus far supported mandated scanning," said Voge. 

According to Breyer, though, this may instead be a way to "introduce 
mandatory Chat Control through the backdoor," rather than a real fix.

A perfidious trick? The EU Council Presidency wants to introduce mandatory
#ChatControl through the backdoor : An Art. 4 amendment would MANDATE "all
reasonable mitigation measures," including scanning, enforced with sanctions!
 -- https://t.co/ewR3a3kSZa November 5, 2025

Another amendment could also require providers of high-risk services to
develop relevant technologies to mitigate the risk of child sexual abuse
identified in their services (Article 5). 

This indicates, Voge explains, the Danish Presidency's high-level intention.
Yet, without providing the details. "To say definitively, we would need to 
see the concrete compromise text." 

What's certain, both Breyer and Voge also believe that the risk of
indiscriminate mass surveillance remains present, even when the scanning
remains voluntary. 

Breyer said to TechRadar: "Even where voluntarily implemented by
communications service providers such as currently Meta, Microsoft, or 
Google, chat control is still totally untargeted and results in 
indiscriminate mass surveillance of all private messages on these services." 

Yet, according to Voge, the important thing here is choice. 

He said: "Denmarks previous mandating of scanning would have forced everyone
to use insecure services. Voluntary scanning means that users will continue 
to have a range of choices when it comes to the services they are using. 

It remains to be seen now whether this new "half-good" Danish proposal will
attract the necessary majority to reach the next stage. 

After all, Poland attempted a similar route at the beginning of the year, but
gave up on voluntary chat scanning in June due to a lack of votes. 

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/chat-control-isnt-dead-denm
ark-has-a-new-proposal-heres-all-we-know

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