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This could spell the end of private messaging apps, with client-side scanning of pre-encrypted messages: It’s “a bit like if the Post Office came to read all your letters in your living room before you put them in the envelope.” If passed by the EU member states, it could be implemented by October in apps like SIGNAL and WHATSAPP. Americans who become entangled in this will also be affected. Free Speech is rapidly closing down. ⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.
With 19 EU member states backing it, the Chat Control proposal could mandate pre-encryption message scanning on apps like WhatsApp and Signal by October.
A controversial European Union proposal dubbed “Chat Control” is regaining momentum, with 19 out of 27 EU member states reportedly backing the measure.
The plan would mandate that messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram, must scan every message, photo and video sent by users starting in October, even if end-to-end encryption is in place, popular French tech blogger Korben wrote on Monday.
Denmark reintroduced the proposal on July 1, the first day of its EU Council presidency. France, once opposed, is now in favor, Korben said, citing Patrick Breyer, a former member of the European Parliament for Germany and the European Pirate Party.
Belgium, Hungary, Sweden, Italy and Spain are also in favor, while Germany remains undecided. However, if Berlin joins the majority, a qualified council vote could push the plan through by mid-October, Korben said.
A qualified majority in the EU Council is achieved when two conditions are met. First, at least 55 percent of member states, meaning 15 out of 27, must vote in favor. Second, those countries must represent at least 65% of the EU’s total population.
Pre-encryption scanning on devices
Instead of weakening encryption, the plan seeks to implement client-side scanning, meaning software embedded in users’ devices that inspects content before it is encrypted. “A bit like if the Post Office came to read all your letters in your living room before you put them in the envelope,” Korben said.
He added that the real target isn’t criminals, who use encrypted or decentralized channels, but ordinary users whose private conversations would now be open to algorithmic scrutiny.
The proposal cites the prevention of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) as its justification. However, it would result in “mass surveillance by means of fully automated real-time surveillance of messaging and chats and the end of privacy of digital correspondence,” Breyer wrote.
Beyond scanning, the package includes mandatory age verification, effectively removing anonymity from messaging platforms. Digital freedom groups are asking citizens to contact their MEPs, sign petitions and push back before the law becomes irreversible.
France faces societal collapse over censorship
Last month, Telegram founder Pavel Durov warned that France risks societal collapse if it continues down a path of political censorship and regulatory overreach. Durov was arrested in France in August 2024 after being accused of failing to moderate his app to reduce criminality.
He also alleged that French intelligence officials approached him earlier this year with requests to censor pro-conservative content ahead of the May 2025 Romanian election, a request he says he refused.
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