Microsoft · Google · Wired · Meta · Wired
The ruling reinstates permissions for firms including Meta, Google, and Microsoft to scan private text, email
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The European Parliament has voted to extend legislation allowing tech companies to voluntarily scan users' private messages for child sexual abuse material, despite a majority of lawmakers voting against the proposal.
Key facts
- While more Members of the European Parliament voted against the regulation on Thursday than voted for it, they fell short of that majority by 47 votes
- The European People's Party, the largest political group in European Parliament, has been battling to bring back tech firms’ legal basis to scan messages since a prior law expired in April
- This “urgent procedure” skips preliminary committee debates where amendments would often be introduced and stipulates that the regulation passes unless an absolute majority of 361 MEPs vote against it
- The European Parliament has voted to extend legislation allowing tech companies to voluntarily scan users' private messages for child sexual abuse material, despite a majority of lawmakers voting
Summary
The ruling reinstates permissions for firms including Meta, Google, and Microsoft to scan private text, email, and social media messages through a bill nicknamed “Chat Control” by critics. “It will mean that private companies may deny your right to have confidential digital conversations,” Simeon de Brouwer, policy advisor at Brussels-based advocacy group European Digital Rights tells WIRED, “They could, if they want to, read every message you write, every email you send, every picture you share.” The European People's Party, the largest political group in European Parliament, has been battling to bring back tech firms’ legal basis to scan messages since a prior law expired in April.