- Germany intends to vote against the controversial regulation of sexual abuse of children (CSAR)
- So -called chat control would introduce mandatory scanning of citizens’ private chat, which raises concerns about privacy and security
- The German Federal Justice Minister said random chat monitoring should remain taboo
It is official – Germany votes against the controversial regulation of sexual abuse of children (CSAR).
Chat control seeks to introduce an obligation to all Messaging apps operating in Europe to scan all URLs, images and videos shared by their users looking for children sexual abuse (CSAM).
Nevertheless, the proposal has attracted strong criticism for the consequences of privacy and security.
Wednesday (October 7, 2025), German Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said that Random chat monitoring must remain taboo in a constitutional state. For this reason, “Germany does not agree on such proposals at the EU level,” Hubig said.
Nevertheless, the German government repeated the need for progress in the fight against child pornography at the EU level.
“I am obliged to this. But even the worst crimes do not justify the surrender of basic civil rights,” Hubig added.
“A great victory for digital privacy”
The messages come after weeks of mixed messages coming from the German government just in front of a crucial meeting set at October 14.
After participating in the countries Opponent of mandatory chat scan in September, the nation was among the countries that had moved their positions in front of the important day as it went back to the indefinite list.
The country has been believed to be a crucial nation where the CSU-led federal Ministry of Interior allegedly puts pressure on the German Federal Ministry of Justice (SPD) to back up the law.
Massenhaftes Scannen Privates Nachrichten Muss in Einem Rechtsstaat Tabu Sein. “Solchen Vorschlägen Wird Deutschland AUF EU e-Eebene Nicht Zustimmen,” concrete Bundes Justizemisterin Stefanie Hubig. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/74cwyoy9txOctober 8, 2025
The decision to reject chat control has been welcomed by many.
Former MEP for the German Pirate Party and Digital Right’s lawyer, Patrick Breyer, sees the move as “a great victory for digital privacy.”
In fact, encryption is the technique that signal, WhatsApp, Proton Mail and even the best VPNs use to crawl the content of our messages into an unreal form to prevent unauthorized access and keep our communication private and secure.
“This is a huge victory for freedom and evidence that protest works,” Breyer said. “But the threat is not gone. Supporters of chat control will use any trick in the book and will not give up easily.”
On a similar note, the Internet Society’s senior director of the European Government and regulatory affairs, David Frutschy, told Techradar: “The Danish proposal remains on the table, and its core failure remains unchanged: It would mandate for scanning the client page of everyone’s private messages, analyzing images on the sender’s unit before encryption.”
The EU Council is actually ready to meet with the EU Justice Minister on October 14. What was previously thought to be only a formal unsubscribe would now decide whether the proposal will land in parliament on the final trilogy negotiations.
However, privacy campaigns said they are ready to fight against any plans to weaken encryption.
“We will continue to fight until this proposal is defeated once and for all, and privacy in our digital lives is safe for everyone,” Breyer said. “Now is the moment that supports the civil rights organizations that made this victory possible, so that we are prepared for the match in the future.”
