That lengthy standoff over privacy rights versus child protection ended Wednesday when EU member states finally agreed on a negotiating mandate for the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation, a controversial law requiring online platforms to detect, report, and remove child sexual abuse material while critics warn the measures could enable mass surveillance of private communications.
The Council agreement, reached despite opposition from the Czech Republic, Netherlands, and Poland, clears the way for trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament to begin in 2026 on legislation that would permanently extend voluntary scanning provisions and establish a new EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse.
The Council introduces three risk categories of online services based on objective criteria including service type, with authorities able to oblige online service providers classified in the high-risk category to contribute to developing technologies to mitigate risks relating to their services. The framework shifts responsibility to digital companies to proactively address risks on their platforms.
Permanent Extension of Voluntary Scanning
One significant provision permanently extends voluntary scanning, a temporary measure first introduced in 2021 that allows companies to voluntarily scan for child sexual abuse material without violating EU privacy laws. That exemption was set to expire in April 2026 under current e-Privacy Directive provisions.
At present, providers of messaging services may voluntarily check content shared on their platforms for online child sexual abuse material, then report and remove it. According to the Council position, this exemption will continue to apply indefinitely under the new law.
Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard welcomed the Council’s agreement, stating that the spread of child sexual abuse material is “completely unacceptable.” “Every year, millions of files are shared that depict the sexual abuse of children. And behind every single image and video, there is a child who has been subjected to the most horrific and terrible abuse,” Hummelgaard said.
New EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse
The legislation provides for establishment of a new EU agency, the EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse, to support implementation of the regulation. The Centre will act as a hub for child sexual abuse material detection, reporting, and database management, receiving reports from providers, assessing risk levels across platforms, and maintaining a database of indicators.
The EU Centre will assess and process information supplied by online providers about child sexual abuse material identified on services, creating, maintaining and operating a database for reports submitted by providers. The Centre will share information from companies with Europol and national law enforcement bodies, supporting national authorities in assessing the risk that online services could be used to spread abuse material.
Online companies must provide assistance for victims who would like child sexual abuse material depicting them removed or for access to such material disabled. Victims can ask for support from the EU Centre, which will check whether companies involved have removed or disabled access to items victims want taken down.
Privacy Concerns and Opposition
The breakthrough comes after months of stalled negotiations and a postponed October vote when Germany joined a blocking minority opposing what critics commonly call “chat control.” Berlin argued the proposal risked “unwarranted monitoring of chats,” comparing it to opening letters from other correspondents.
Critics from Big Tech companies and data privacy NGOs warn the measures could pave the way for mass surveillance, as private messages would be scanned by authorities to detect illegal images. The Computer and Communications Industry Association stated that EU member states made clear the regulation can only move forward if new rules strike a true balance protecting minors while maintaining confidentiality of communications, including end-to-end encryption.
Also read: EU Chat Control Proposal to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Slammed by Critics
Former Pirate MEP Patrick Breyer, who has been advocating against the file, characterized the Council endorsement as “a Trojan Horse” that legitimizes warrantless, error-prone mass surveillance of millions of Europeans by US corporations through cementing voluntary mass scanning.
The European Parliament’s study heavily critiqued the Commission’s proposal, concluding there aren’t currently technological solutions that can detect child sexual abuse material without resulting in high error rates affecting all messages, files and data in platforms. The study also concluded the proposal would undermine end-to-end encryption and security of digital communications.
Scope of the Crisis
Statistics underscore the urgency. 20.5 million reports and 63 million files of abuse were submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline last year, with online grooming increasing 300 percent since negotiations began. Every half second, an image of a child being sexually abused is reported online.
Sixty-two percent of abuse content flagged by the Internet Watch Foundation in 2024 was traced to EU servers, with at least one in five children in Europe a victim of sexual abuse.
The Council position allows trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament and Commission to start in 2026. Those negotiations need to conclude before the already postponed expiration of the current e-Privacy regulation that allows exceptions under which companies can conduct voluntary scanning. The European Parliament reached its negotiating position in November 2023.
