Chat Control: Where Does The UE Proposal On Combating Children Sexual Abuse Online Stand?

For more than four years, the European Union has been negotiating a proposal for a Regulation aimed at preventing and combating child sexual abuse online, commonly referred to in public debate as “Chat Control”. Presented by the European Commission on 11 May 2022 (COM(2022) 209 final), the proposal introduces obligations on digital service providers concerning risk assessment, mitigation, detection, reporting, removal and blocking of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and online grooming, and establishes a new EU Centre for the prevention and combating of child sexual abuse.

The most controversial issue, and the one from which the proposal derives its name, concerns detection orders, i.e. the possibility for an authority to require a communications service provider, including providers of end-to-end encrypted communications services, to deploy technologies that scan content exchanged by users for CSAM or signs of grooming. Negotiations on this issue have been deadlocked for years,