- The opposition against the controversial bill on sexual abuse on children (CSAM) developed before a crucial meeting on September 12
- The Danish version of the so-called cat control bill could be adopted in October 2025 if an agreement is reached
- Experts are concerned with the negative impact that the bill will have on the confidentiality and security of citizens’ communications
The opposition against the controversial bill on sexual abuse on children (CSAM) increases Among the members of the EU state, a few days before a crucial meeting.
On September 12, the EU Council should share its final positions on the Danish version of the so-called cat control. The proposal, which has so far attracted strong criticism, aims to introduce new obligations for all messaging services operating in Europe to analyze user cats, even if they are encrypted.
According to the latest data, the Czech Republic and Belgium would now have gone to oppose the proposed law, according to the latest data, the latter considering the bill as “a monster that invades your privacy and cannot be tamed”. They add to Austria, the Netherlands and Poland to criticize the compulsory detection and encryption provisions of the proposal.
However, the list of supporters is still much longer, with 15 Member States at the time of writing. These include crucial countries such as France, alongside Italy, Spain, Sweden, Lithuania, Cyprus, Latvia and Ireland.
Above all, French deputies said that they could “suffer essentially” the project, a source knowing the case, told Techradar. While Germany, another decisive vote to block or support the bill, could consider refusing to take a stand. This is something that will weaken the Danish mandate, “even if the presidency obtains the required votes”, explains the source of Techradar.
What is at stake for encrypted European communications?
Unveiled for the first time in 2022, the cat’s control proposal has never been so close to the law, with a vote that should take place on October 14, 2025, and the majority of EU member states as supporters.
At a more practical level, this means that the EU could scan your cats by October 2025 – it doesn’t matter if they are encrypted.
The main discord, in fact, is the provisions concerning encryption, which is the technology responsible for maintaining our private and secure communications. The tastes of WhatsApp, Signal, Protonmail and even the best VPN applications all use encryption to blur the content of user messages in an illegible form and prevent unauthorized access.
If the Danish chat control text passes, all the files and multimedia URLs that you have sent via WhatsApp and similar services should be analyzed in search of CSAM materials. Above all, government and military accounts will be exempt from digitization.
Although the proposal mentions that cybersecurity and encryption should be “completely protected”, a wealth of experts, including technological developers, cryptographers and digital rights defenders, warned that, as expected, compulsory digitization cannot be done without weakening encryption protections. This will also make everyone de facto more vulnerable to cyber attacks.
At the time of the writing of this document, only seven countries remain undecided, namely Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Romania and Slovenia.
If you worry about this proposal and want to put pressure on the MEPs of your country, this website helps you do it in a few clicks.
