EU Pushes Chat Control via Backroom Deals as Activists Relaunch Opposition Site

Digital rights campaigner and former MEP Patrick Breyer is warning of a coordinated two-front effort by EU institutions to revive message-scanning mandates this week. On Friday, the Council reportedly plans to adopt a first-reading position that would resurrect the lapsed ‘Chat Control 1.0’ regime—despite Parliament rejecting it in March and asking the Commission to withdraw it. The maneuver, attributed to Parliament President Roberta Metsola, is characterized as an end-run around a vote her own EPP group helped defeat.

The second front is Monday’s final trilogue on the permanent CSAR regulation (2022/0155). Parliament is expected to rush through a fresh detection mandate that morning, opening the door to concessions later in the day. Breyer outlines the worst-case outcomes on the table: ‘voluntary’ scanning that becomes effectively mandatory as a risk-mitigation requirement, detection orders that aren’t limited to suspects or gated behind a court order, and mandatory age verification that would functionally end anonymous communication across the bloc.

In response, civil society has relaunched fightchatcontrol.eu, giving citizens a template to lobby both member states and Parliament’s lead negotiators. The campaign argues the proposals violate the EU Charter and Court of Justice rulings—concerns echoed this month by the Council’s own legal service. Breyer’s counter-position favors targeted, evidence-based investigations, security-by-design, and proactive takedowns over error-prone client-side scanning that he says criminalizes ordinary family photos.