The political negotiations over the highly controversial EU law on potential mandatory chat controls are entering the home stretch. A breakthrough is expected to be achieved in the negotiations in Brussels on Monday. For years, civil rights activists, data protection advocates and IT experts have been warning against unfounded mass surveillance of private communications. However, the central argument of the proponents – new legal instruments are essential to combat child sexual abuse – is refuted by current figures.
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As can be seen from a response from the federal government to a request from the Left Party published by Netzpolitik.org, tech companies continue to voluntarily report large amounts of evidence of child abuse to the authorities. The Federal Criminal Police Office receives over 10,000 such entries per month. The existing mechanisms also work without the legally required screening of private messages.
In the fall, the federal government promised that there would be no comprehensive surveillance without specific suspicion. Internal documents and current negotiations in Brussels paint a different picture.
Democratic foul play in Brussels
The European People’s Party (EPP) group plays a key role. In March, the European Parliament expressly spoke out against extending the expired exemption that allowed tech companies to carry out voluntary chat controls. Nevertheless, in an unusual step, Parliament President Roberta Metsola (EPP) suggested putting the already rejected regulation back on the agenda of the Council of Ministers.
According to a report, the initiative goes back to the EPP leadership around CSU politician Manfred Weber. Member States are already discussing reviving the proposal. MPs accuse Metsola of undermining the parliamentary mandate and exploiting the legislative process for party politics.
Konstantin Macher from Digitale Gesellschaft speaks of a scandal. Parliament has already voted against random chat controls several times. Votes should not be repeated arbitrarily until the desired result is achieved.
At the same time, the federal government is coming under pressure due to published internal documents. While Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) publicly stated that there would be no random chat control with her, council minutes show a different line. A document from June 17th shows that the German negotiators in Brussels support the broadest possible use of unrelated scans with only minimal restrictions: on June 10th, the German delegation had already spoken out in favor of extensive surveillance.
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Documented breach of word in Berlin
The Federal Ministry of the Interior under Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) is in charge of the negotiations. Back in the fall, Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (CDU) compared the plan with the precautionary opening of all private letters and ruled out approval. A spokesman for Dobrindt told heise online in March: “The federal government has already agreed in 2025” that the relevant EU regulation “should focus on permanently enabling voluntary measures on a solid legal basis in the EU”. The now documented course in Brussels contradicts this. The digital society therefore demands consequences within the coalition. Justice Minister Hubig must confront Dobrindt if she wants to be credible.
Experts have been warning since the beginning of the debate that mandatory chat controls would effectively require breaking secure end-to-end encryption. Services like WhatsApp, Signal or Threema could then no longer guarantee the same confidentiality. This would create significant risks for IT security and the protection of privacy.
The alliance “Stop Chat Control!” is therefore mobilizing the public again shortly before the so-called trilogue. It calls on the negotiators to return to the position adopted by Parliament in 2023 and to refrain from surveillance of private communications without cause.
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