Tech industry groups have rallied behind the Polish presidency’s proposal to extend the current framework for voluntary detection of child sexual abuse imagery online while safeguarding encrypted communication.
Tech companies and platforms are calling on member states who continue in the EU Council to debate a new proposal aimed at combating online child sexual abuse to preserve the voluntary detection of illegal content.
This would allow the continued use of technologies like CSAI Match and PhotoDNA, which automatically identify abusive images shared on online platforms.
Currently, online companies are permitted to flag illegal images under a temporary exemption from the EU’s e-privacy law. However, this exemption is set to expire in April 2026. The tech industry is urging member states to include the exemption’s provisions in the final legislation and to extend it in the interim, as negotiations on the matter are expected to take longer to conclude.
“As the extension is only a temporary solution, we strongly support the introduction of a legal basis for voluntary detection as proposed by the Polish Presidency in its latest compromise proposal,” they wrote.
Ella Jakubowska, Head of Policy at the digital rights NGO EDRi, believes the extension is inevitable. “With member states still gridlocked, EU lawmakers may have no choice but to extend the current derogation,” she told Euronews.
The proposal has been under negotiation since 2022, with several rotating presidencies struggling to build consensus. After failed attempts by the Czech, Spanish, Belgian, and Hungarian presidencies, Poland has taken a new approach to secure a compromise.
The European Commission’s original proposal included controversial “detection orders”, allowing authorities to demand access to private communications. However, Poland’s latest proposal removes this provision, focusing on voluntary detection. Detection orders would only apply as a last resort to platforms deemed “high risk” that fail to act against online child abuse.
Emily Slifer, director of policy at Thorn, a child protection NGO that develops abuse-detection technologies, acknowledged that voluntary detection is not ideal but said it is the most politically feasible option for now. “When voluntary detection stopped in 2021 due to legal uncertainty, CSAM reports dropped by 58% overnight—removing it from the legislation would cripple child protection efforts,” Slifer said.
ECPAT, an international organization fighting child sexual exploitation, has also voiced its support for the current proposal, but emphasised the need for both voluntary and mandatory detection systems to prevent gaps in child protection.
One particularly contentious issue has been the potential scanning of end-to-end encrypted communications. Messaging services such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and Messenger use encryption to ensure that only the sender and recipient can access the messages. Both the Commission’s proposal and earlier drafts of the Council’s text had included provisions for scanning encrypted communications, raising significant privacy concerns.
In a positive development for privacy advocates, the latest proposal excludes the scanning of encrypted messages. Former MEP Patrick Breyer called this a “breakthrough in preserving our right to confidential digital correspondence”, referring to the new proposal as the “Half-good Polish Chat Control proposal.”
ECPAT has urged the Polish presidency and EU member states to swiftly adopt a strong legal framework to address the growing child sexual abuse crisis online. As the number of online abuse cases continues to rise, the organisation stresses that urgent action is needed to protect vulnerable children.
With member states yet to reach a consensus, a revised version of the proposal, incorporating feedback from diplomats, will be presented in hopes of reaching a final compromise. Initially proposed by the European Commission in May 2022, the proposal was quickly adopted by the European Parliament. Once the Council reaches an agreement, the long-awaited interinstitutional negotiations, known as trilogues, can begin.
