- The presidency of EU Poland did not find a majority on the sweeping bill for sexual abuse on disputed children (CSAM) either
- The EU Commission unveiled for the first time the so-called cat control proposal in May 2022
- In February, Poland proposed a new version to volunteer the digitization of encrypted cats
Poland has also failed in its attempt to conclude an agreement on the controversial sweeping bill on sexual abuse on children (CSAM).
As reported by the Digital Rights Netzpolitik group, the Polish presidency is the last EU council to be abandoned after being unable to obtain the necessary majority among the members of the EU. The bill seeks to demand all messaging services in Europe to scan user cats, even if they are encrypted.
That said, what has been judged by criticism because cat control may not yet be out of the table. On July 1, 2025, Denmark should take charge of the EU’s presidency until December. A fervent supporter of cat control, the Netxpolitik experts expect Denmark to advance with the proposal.
“No agreement could be concluded” – again
“No agreement could be concluded at the meeting,” reads the summary (as published by Netxpolitik) of the final meeting held by the Polish presidency on the issue on May 23, 2025.
The European Commission first unveiled the proposal in May 2022 as a solution to the spread of CSAM content. Since then, the proposal has seen many twists and turns, but many experts and politicians have warned against the risk of confidentiality and security to undermine encrypted communications.
According to its first version, all messaging software providers, it doesn’t matter if they use encryption, have been required to carry out a blind analysis of private messages on the search for CSAM – supposedly “ Customer side ”.
The counterpouxing among industry and even among the EU political benches – the European Court of Human Rights prohibited all legal efforts to weaken the encryption of secure communications in Europe in early 2024, in fact – led the legislators to adjust the label. Last June, Belgium then proposed a new text to target only shared photos, videos and URLs, on the permission of users.
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However, this version did not satisfy the industry or the vote of the EU members because of its coercive nature. According to the Belgian text, users must give their consent to the shared equipment analyzed before being encrypted to continue using the functionality.
Quick advance until February 2025, Poland tried to find a better compromise by sweeping volunteer quantified cats instead of compulsory and classified as “prevention”.
While experts have found this version a “major progress”, they have always deplored the risk of mass surveillance.
Throughout the presidency, the members of the EU could not agree on a satisfactory wording, despite several attempts to modify the compromise text.
As Netzpolitik reported, at the last meeting, many EU members of the EU expressed their concerns. It was in particular of the very country which previously joined the list to promote, such as Italy, Romania and France. The latter even said: “He has no sense to continue working with this text.”
As mentioned above, Denmark should continue to try to find an agreement on the CSAM digitization proposal after starting its presidency in July.
This occurs while the EU Commission should also launch its investigation into the stolen door of legal encryption within the framework of a new controversial plan, protects. Although it is in its infancy, the strategy has already attracted strong criticism in industry.
