Internet
EU Commissioner defends chat control proposal
A chief inspector sits in front of an evaluation computer during investigations into child pornography and sexual abuse. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
How can the spread of depictions of abuse on the Internet be curbed? The EU Commission has made concrete proposals. But there is strong resistance to a planned chat control.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson has defended her proposals in the fight against depictions of child abuse on the internet against criticism from the European Parliament. In contrast to the current rules, the detection of content for online companies will be significantly restricted with the new legislative proposal, the Swede said on Monday in Brussels.
She pointed to several safeguards that should be put in place. At the same time, companies should be able to be forced to scan content in certain cases. Johansson warned that the current interim solution could result in a legal loophole if the new rules were not decided in good time.
In May, the EU Commission presented a draft law with which it intends to curb the spread of child pornography on the Internet. Civil rights organizations and other critics see this as an attempt to scan all communication on the Internet, including encrypted messages. Several federal ministers and Europe’s top data protection officers were also critical. The latter reported serious concerns regarding the privacy and personal data of individuals. The next step is for the EU states and the EU Parliament to negotiate the proposals.
Some MEPs welcomed the Commission’s initiative on Monday in principle. However, there was strong criticism from several politicians. Patrick Breyer of the Pirates warned: “The Commission is proposing a mandatory, general surveillance system that is so extreme that it does not exist anywhere else in the free world.” The only country in which such indiscriminate searches exist is authoritarian China. The FDP politician Jan-Christoph Oetjen also said that the proposals were disproportionate. Ireland’s Clare Daly of the Left said her group’s fear was that the proposal would result in an automatic search of everyone’s private communications.