Will Brussels monitor our personal communication? Will the European Union monitor its residents? Is the "end of democracy" coming? Such concerns are expressed by users, MEPs and public figures on social networks. The proposal of the European Commission (EC) to introduce new rules aimed at protecting minors from online sexual abuse and child pornography has become better known as "chat control". What is it really about?
What is "chat control"
The proposal, made back in 2022, aims to give police more powers to combat illegal content and force online messaging platforms to scan their users' communications for evidence of child abuse. But privacy groups, cybersecurity experts and tech experts have been warning for years that these plans could open the door to mass surveillance.
Some of the concerns about the draft law are shared by civil society organizations, governments of some EU member states, and technology companies, which would potentially have to comply with such a change in legislation.
Criticism - concerns about violations of the right to privacy
The biggest problem that civil society organizations are paying attention to is the possibility of "preventive" surveillance of all users described in the first version of the bill. This could also include a requirement to detect attempts by adults to attract minors (the so-called grooming).
The technologies that service providers can choose themselves must be able to analyze the content of messages. To detect known child sexual abuse images, an automated comparison of the sent media files with a reference database may be sufficient. To detect previously unknown sexual abuse and grooming images, machine learning should be used to analyze the semantic content of chats.
These proposals were contained in the original draft, which was, however, modified. The current proposal requires this process to be carried out through so-called scan orders, which would be issued by a judge or an independent authority. The proposal, made by Denmark at the beginning of the Nordic country's presidency of the Council of the EU, removed the possibility of scanning text and audio messages - now the idea is to scan (after an order from a judge or the relevant institution) only photos and links to external sources.
According to the Danish proposal, scanning orders can also be issued for services that use end-to-end encryption, but within a system known as "client-side scanning". Supporters of this system argue that it allows scanning images without breaking the encryption, but human rights activists and critics of the proposal disagree.
How far has the legislation come?
The European Council was expected to hold a vote on the bill on October 14, but this was canceled after a group of countries objected to its current form. Germany has traditionally been the strongest voice in the opposition camp, although it is no longer as outspoken as it once was. Other main opponents include Poland, which during its presidency of the EU Council insisted that scanning should remain a voluntary measure, not mandatory for services with end-to-end encryption.
Among the countries favoring stricter measures are Denmark and Sweden, where the use of social networks by children is a hot topic, Spain, as well as France, which supports the Danish proposal.
"Digital concentration camp" and other Russian propaganda clichés
Criticism of the draft law by civil society and representatives of the European Parliament, as well as discussions taking place in the European institutions, are changing the face of the proposed legislation. Although it is an example of a functioning civil society and democratic institutions, Russian propaganda is using the discontent to portray the "collective West" as despotic and limiting people's freedoms.
In media outlets such as "Pogled.info", which publish materials adapted from Russian sources, there is talk of the end of freedom of speech and a "digital concentration camp" that the West will put people in. The materials on the topic were translated by the "Strategic Culture Foundation", which the Russian Foreign Ministry describes as its partner. A TikTok user asks meaningfully "who decides whether they will read your messages" and replies that it is not the people who decide, but "officials in Brussels who were not elected by anyone", even though members of the European Parliament are voted for in elections. The same video is being circulated on the Facebook page "Krasiv Sandanski", which is apparently part of a network of similar pages with such names, associated with the leader of the "Velichy" party Ivelin Mihaylov.
About a digital or digital "concentration camp" has been talked about before - from "chipping" with Covid-19 vaccines, to "taking away" cash with the introduction of the digital euro, to "you won't decide" whether someone can access your private messages.
Russia is doing exactly what it accuses the West of
There is another thing that these disinformation narratives are similar in. Russian propaganda accuses the EU of "taking away" rights from its citizens, but at the same time it is Moscow that is doing exactly what it accuses the "collective West" of.
For example, Russia introduced a mandatory vaccination campaign against Covid-19 and a digital ruble, while accusing the EU of controlling its citizens - through vaccines (which were not mandatory in the EU) and the digital euro (which is not yet a reality). And now Russian propaganda accuses the European Union of controlling users' online behavior.
At the same time, Russia has launched the state-owned mobile app "Max". The decision to launch this state-owned messenger was made by parliament in June 2025. It is automatically installed on phones and tablets sold in the country. The authorities in Moscow claim that the new app is "safer" than alternatives such as WhatsApp and Telegram. However, according to information collected by "Max", one arrest has already been made. For IT experts, it is an extended arm of the government. The application can not only read private messages and access all contacts and photos, but can also locate the user at every step.
Автор: Мина Киркова