- The EU has postponed its vote on the controversial regulation of sexual abuse of children (CSAR)
- The move is coming when Germany took up the opposition on October 7th and argued that chat monitoring should remain taboo
- Chat control would introduce mandatory scanning of private chats, which raises privacy and security
The EU’s plan to monitor all citizens’ private chats remains far from being allowed – so far.
The EU legislators have postponed a crucial vote on the controversial regulation of sexual abuse of children (CSAR), which was planned for October 14 between the EU council and the EU Justice Minister.
The move is coming when Germany took up the opposition on Wednesday, October 7, after claiming that chat surveillance should remain taboo and The government “does not agree” in the proposal.
Germany’s decision is probably why Chat control has failed to attract the necessary majority once again.
According to the Danish iteration of the bill, all messaging apps operating in Europe would be required to scan all URLs, Images and Videos shared by their users looking for material for sexual abuse of children (CSAM) – even when the messages are encrypted.
Of crucial importance, experts have long argued that such scanning is not compatible with how encryption works. Encryption is the technology that signalizes, whatsapp, proton mail and even the best VPN apps that use to crawl the content of users’ messages in an ulcerous form, preventing unauthorized access.
The CSAR proposal has attracted strong criticism for its consequences for privacy and security and expires a tough debate around Europe.
Signal’s Vice President of Global Affairs even compared this mandatory clientspage scan with “Malware on your device.” Over 40 European privacy-tech companies have also warned against the impact on EU digital sovereignty. More than 500 cryptographic experts also signed an open letter arguing that the bill still fails to tackle concerns about encryption, arbitrary monitoring and accuracy.
Voting delayed but chat control still on the table
This is not the first time The EU disagrees with chat control – a proposal that first appeared on the EU agenda in 2022. Still, the bill will return to the legislature’s table.
It is then only fair to assume that despite the case disappearing from agenda 14 October, the vote has only been delayed and chat control is set to return to the EU council soon.
According to the former MEP for the German Pirate Party and Digital Rights lawyer Patrick Breyer, “EU government keeps working on the proposal,” he wrote at X.
The next meeting may occur in a few months, as Breyer explains, EU interior ministers are ready to meet again on December 6 and 7.
X welcomes the EU Council’s decision to postpone the vote on October 14 on CSAM “Chat Control” proposal, which includes scanning provisions on the client side threatening end-to-end encryption and users’ privacy. This delay marks an important step in the protection of safe communication, …October 10, 2025
On a similar note is X, commenting from its global government affairs: “This delay marks an important step in protecting safe communication, but the fight is not over! Member States are still negotiating the provisions of the proposal with the goal of bringing it back to a vote.”
CEO of government affairs and advocacy in the Internet Society, Callum Voge, Techradar told that another option could be for the Europe Commission to remember the bill.
He said, “This is a drastic move. In a way, it admits that they were wrong and calculated the political atmosphere.”
President of Non-Profit Signal Foundation, Meredith Whittaker, is not ready to fully celebrate this victory for privacy.
“We expect closed door negotiations to participate in rhetorical arbitrage and claim to support privacy by using word games and tailor-made definitions in practice undermines it,” wrote Whittaker on X.
Something is clear though. Whittaker said, “You can’t create a back door that only lets the ‘good guys’ in. However, they are dressed up, these suggestions create cybersecurity loopholes that hackers and hostile nations eagerly wait to exploit.”
