The fight for child protection and online privacy continues
Today Renew Europe opposed the vote on a further extension of the temporary derogation from EU privacy rules allowing online service providers to voluntarily detect and report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) because we want long term, more robust solutions. We welcome the European Parliament's adoption of two Renew Europe amendments that deliver strong protection for encrypted communications for Europeans. They are key to securing more privacy online -protecting Europeans' private communications. This is an important element in the new possible derogation and in our long-standing fight for a permanent CSAM Regulation that protects children from online sexual abuse while fully respecting the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and we will continue fighting for it.
A temporary derogation risks efforts to negotiate a permanent framework. No permanent framework means losing a dedicated EU Centre for child protection, a harmonised EU approach, binding rules for platforms and mandatory prevention measures. We reconfirm our position and call on all Member States to urgently pursue negotiations towards that permanent solution.
We regret that Parliament rejected the two other amendments, which would have strengthened fundamental rights while increasing pressure to deliver a permanent legislative solution. Instead of writing clear democratic safeguards into law, they handed Big Tech the keys to Europeans' private communications, allowing private platforms to decide when and how millions of personal messages are scanned.
Irena Joveva, Renew shadow rapporteur on the Temporary derogation extension (CSA), said:
“While it is a small victory for this House that we successfully excluded end-to-end encryption from the scanning of private communications, it is simply not enough. I remain deeply disappointed that the Council, with the backing of one political group, managed to force this vote upon us. We clearly had the numbers, as proven in previous votes, but forcing a session on the final day of July makes securing an absolute majority incredibly difficult. This sets a troubling precedent for the Parliament. I urge the negotiators to find a solution on the permanent framework.”
Irena JovevaRenew Europe MEP, Slovenia, Gibanje Svoboda
Hilde Vautmans, Renew shadow rapporteur on Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse (CSAM Regulation), said:
“Every child deserves the strongest possible protection from sexual abuse online. Renew Europe fought to ensure Europeans would never be asked to choose between protecting children and protecting their fundamental rights. Thanks to our amendments, the final text explicitly excludes end-to-end encryption from any scanning obligation - a real, if partial, safeguard for people’s privacy. But that is not enough. The text still leaves too many gaps: it fails to adequately address grooming and newly produced material, and it relies on voluntary measures rather than binding obligations. That is why we voted against the final text. This interim measure can never be allowed to substitute for the permanent CSAM Regulation. Council and Commission must now return to the table without delay to deliver a permanent framework that protects children without undermining secure communications.”
Hilde VautmansRenew Europe MEP, Belgium, Anders
Renew Europe was the only political group to consistently defend both child protection and the confidentiality of private communications and we will continue to fight for it.