Does child protection justify access to private messages? This extremely sensitive issue will be discussed today by the 27 countries of the European Union, which are trying to reach an agreement on a text to combat the spread of child pornography.
The meeting in Brussels is expected to determine the future of the initiative, which has been the focus of heated debates for several years.
The proposal made by the European Commission in May 2022 aims to combat the spread of images and videos containing child sexual abuse and the exploitation of children by paedophile criminals.
The proposal, which has the support of several child protection associations, foresees an obligation for platforms and online communication services to detect such content and report it.
"Stop Chat Control"
European data protection authorities, MEPs and some countries, including Germany, believe that the proposed text would create "disproportionately" a threat to privacy.
These players are particularly concerned about the use of technologies that allow users to view their private conversations, including on encrypted communication apps such as Signal and WhatsApp, while checking for child pornography.
Encrypted apps are strongly opposed.
"This is the end of the secrecy of correspondence, which is key for whistleblowers," German activist Patrick Breyer told AFP.
The former MEP fears that the text could eventually become a tool in the hands of authoritarian regimes that could "perpetrate repression against the political opposition" by reading the conversations of its representatives.
Critics of the text have launched a major campaign on social media to block its adoption. Under the slogan "Stop Chat Control" - the nickname they have given to the text - they are flooding European officials with messages, hoping to influence the debate.
"I have never seen anything like this on any other issue. We receive thousands of emails a day", a European diplomat told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Denmark, which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union and which last drafted the text, supports the proposal to take precautions.
First, only images and links can be reviewed by the verification system, not text messages. Nor can the system be used without the permission of a judicial or administrative authority.
"No blanket surveillance"
"To be clear, blanket surveillance is not envisaged under this proposal", said European Commission spokesman Markus Lammert. "This is about protecting our children from this terrible crime that is spreading online".
A report by the British organization "Internet Watch Foundation" (Internet Watch Foundation, IWF), published last year, shows that 62% of child pornography is hosted on servers based in the EU.
The detection of such content by platforms is currently voluntary, which Brussels says is largely insufficient given the scale of the problem.
The current rules are set to run until April 2026, pending the adoption of a new text that would make the detection of such content mandatory for everyone.
What is the future of this proposal? Depending on the outcome of today's meeting, two scenarios are possible.
The first: Germany, whose support is almost mandatory due to qualified majority rules, supports the measure. This would allow member states to formally adopt the text at a meeting in Luxembourg scheduled for October 14.
The second: Germany abstains or continues to oppose, which would lead to new discussions on this sensitive issue.
According to several European representatives participating in the discussions, Berlin is likely to clarify its position in the coming hours.
Translation from French: Bozhidar Zahariev, BTA