The Netherlands’ government and opposition are both against the latest version of the controversial EU regulation aimed at detecting online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to an official position and an open letter published on Tuesday (1 October).
The regulation, aimed at detecting online CSAM, has been criticised for potentially allowing the scanning of private messages on platforms such as WhatsApp or Gmail.
However, the latest compromise text, dated 9 September, limits detection to known material, among other changes. ‘Known’ material refers to content that has already been circulating and detected, in contrast to ‘new’ material that has not yet been identified.
The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU shared a partial general approach dated 24 September and seen by Euractiv, that mirrors the 9 September text but reduces the reevaluation period from five years to three for grooming and new CSAM.
Limiting detection to known material could hinder authorities’ ability to surveil massive amounts of communications, suggesting the change is likely an attempt to reconcile privacy concerns.
The Netherlands initially supported the proposal to limit detection to ‘known’ material but withdrew its support in early September, Euractiv reported.
On Tuesday (1 October), Amsterdam officially took a stance against the general approach, despite speculation last week suggesting the country might shift its position in favour of the regulation.
This is also despite the Dutch mostly maintaining that their primary concern lies with combating known CSAM – a focus that aligns with the scope of the latest proposal.
According to various statistics, the Netherlands hosts a significant amount of CSAM.
The Dutch had been considering supporting the proposal, or at least a “silent abstention” that might have weakened the blocking minority, signalling a shift since Friday (27 September), a source close to the matter told Euractiv.
While a change in the Netherlands’ stance could have affected the blocking minority in the EU Council, their current position now strengthens it.
If the draft law were to pass in the EU Council, the next stage would be interinstitutional negotiations, called trilogues, between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the Commission to finalise the legislation.
Both the Dutch government and the opposition are against supporting the new partial general approach.
Opposition party GroenLinks-PvdA (Greens/EFA) published an open letter, also on Tuesday, backed by a coalition of national and EU-based private and non-profit organisations, urging the government to vote against the proposal.
According to the letter, the regulation will be discussed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 11 October, with positions coordinated among member states on 2 October.
Currently, an interim regulation allows companies to detect and report online CSAM voluntarily. Originally set to expire in 2024, this measure has been extended to 2026 to avoid a legislative gap, as the draft for a permanent law has yet to be agreed.
The Dutch Secret Service opposed the draft regulation because “introducing a scan application on every mobile phone” with infrastructure to manage the scans would be a complex and extensive system that would introduce risks to digital resilience, according to a decision note.
Source: Dutch oppose Hungary’s approach to EU child sexual abuse regulation – Euractiv
To find out more about how invasive the proposed scanning feature is, look through the articles here: https://www.linkielist.com/?s=csam
Robin Edgar
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