Overview
- On Thursday, July 9, the European Parliament approved a prorogation of the temporary deroga commonly called “Chat Control” to 3 April 2028 and passed an amendment excluding communications protected by end‑to‑end encryption from the scope of the extension.
- The amended text allows providers to continue voluntary automated scanning on services they can access in plain text, including non‑E2E messaging, email, cloud storage, social posts and many gaming networks.
- A motion to fully reject the extension failed because opponents did not reach the absolute majority required in second reading, with 314 votes for rejection against the 361 needed.
- The Parliament’s changes have been sent to the Council, which has three months to accept them; if the Council rejects any amendment a formal conciliation process between Parliament and Council will follow.
- Negotiations on a separate permanent CSAM regulation continue, big tech firms have kept scanning in practice, and rights groups warn the measures risk false positives, mass surveillance by private systems and a precedent that could be misused by authoritarian states.