The European Parliament voted in July 2026 to extend legislation allowing tech companies to voluntarily scan users’ private messages for child sexual abuse material — even though more lawmakers voted against the measure than for it.
The bill, nicknamed “Chat Control” by critics, reinstates permissions for Meta, Google, and Microsoft to scan private texts, emails, and social media messages. End-to-end encrypted services such as WhatsApp and Signal remain exempt. The extension runs until 2028, or until permanent legislation replaces it.
The vote passed through a procedural mechanism that required an absolute majority of 361 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to vote against it in order to block it. Opponents fell short of that threshold by 47 votes, meaning the regulation passed despite more MEPs voting against it than for it.
The European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament, pushed to reinstate the scanning permissions after a prior law expired in April. The EPP used an “urgent procedure” to force the vote this week, bypassing preliminary committee debates, ahead of parliament’s summer recess. Party vice-chair Tomas Tobé argued the measure was necessary for child protection: “We cannot go to the summer recess knowing that our children are not protected.”
Critics pushed back sharply. Simeon de Brouwer, policy advisor at Brussels-based advocacy group European Digital Rights, warned the law means “private companies may deny your right to have confidential digital conversations.” Former MEP and civil rights activist Patrick Breyer called the outcome a “farce” that “damages democracy,” comparing blanket message scanning to “indiscriminately opening everyone’s physical mail.”
The outcome suggests EU citizens’ private digital communications could remain subject to voluntary corporate scanning for at least the next two years, with a permanent framework still under discussion.
Source: WIRED