Status: 05/29/2022 8:44 p.m
According to Interior Minister Faeser, in 2021 an average of 49 children in Germany were victims of sexualised violence every day. There is an “urgent” need for action. However, she rejects an unprovoked search of encrypted private chats.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser sees an “urgent need for action” in the fight against sexual abuse of children on the Internet. An average of 49 children per day were victims of sexualised violence in Germany last year, said the SPD politician Report from Berlin. She was referring to a report by the Federal Criminal Police Office, which is to be presented on Monday. “We urgently need to protect the children,” Faeser demanded. It is “one of the worst forms of crime”.
The minister reiterated her position on the EU Commission’s plans to drastically tighten Internet surveillance in the fight against child sexual abuse. Being tough on this “disgusting form of crime” doesn’t rule out protecting private information, she said. “From my point of view, it is not necessary for us to go into private chats without cause.” Rather, it is about publicly accessible chats that are not encrypted and about platforms on which images are shared.
“We want to look into that, but we don’t want to look into encrypted, private communication,” emphasized Faeser. She announced a “differentiated statement on the EU directive”.
“There’s no need for us to jump into private chats without a reason”
Report from Berlin, May 29, 2022
Online platforms should be obliged to report
According to the will of the EU Commission, anyone who shares photos and videos of sexual abuse of children on the Internet should be easier to catch in the future. As can be seen from a draft law presented in mid-May, providers such as Google or Facebook could be obliged to use software to search their services for corresponding representations. In addition, an EU center is to be set up to provide the relevant technology.
Criticism of the draft comes from privacy advocates and several MEPs. The German digital minister Volker Wissing (FDP) recently said that general chat controls are unacceptable. “We need a protected space for private communication,” he demanded.