Tomorrow (Thursday) EU governments are to vote on a bill (officially called “child sexual abuse regulation” but known as “chat control”) that would require automated searches in and disclosure of private chats, including end-to-end encrypted chats, that might contain illegal photos or videos.
Further Reading:
https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/council-to-greenlight-chat-control-take-action-now/
So, this has nothing to do with “think of the children” and everything to do with “we can’t harvest encrypted data”, right?
Exactly this! Take it from someone who has worked in content moderation (including CSEM, amongst other things). What is being proposed will not help fight this battle.
And what kills me is that continually trotting out “for the children” as an automatic “gotcha” watchword lessens the public concern for actual children and muddies the proverbial pond with regards to the actual effective/productive methods for actually protecting children.
There should be a rule about using “think of the children”/“support our troops” where you have to actually be doing something that directly and proportionally affects the group you’re referencing in a positive manner commensurate with the amount of money that’s being funnelled into the effort.
That and no shilling for cancer research donations just to spend it on yachts and advertising or whatever.
Does this affect any people interacting with anyone or servers/websites/etc outside the EU?
I’m not entirely sure but I think it might. I don’t see how big tech would voluntarily not scan the rest of their user base in the name of “protecting the children”. This is already done to some extent but the new law would amplify what is already being done.
Ugh yeah the sites you linked said you just wouldn’t be able to use E2E apps unless you consent to upload everything you do. I’m all for protecting children but this is not the way. This is super nefarious in that people outside the country or using VPNs would be unaware they are being surveilled. I would start a movement to create a law to require any E2E app to disclose if it is monitored by a third party