Denmark, which holds the presidency of the European Council, has reportedly withdrawn a proposal that would have forced platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal to allow authorities to screen messages before they are encrypted and sent.
The proposed law, known as Chat controlfirst introduced in May 2022 as a method to combat the spread of prohibited and illegal content through messaging services.
A revived version of it arrived this year, with critics dispute Again this will be undermined encrypted messaging and people’s right to privacy.
The proposal removed means it will remain voluntary.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said the proposal “will not be part of the EU presidency’s new compromise proposal, and it will continue to be voluntary,” for tech giants to screen encrypted messages, according in a report by the Daily Newspaper Politiken on October 30.
The current framework expires in April
The current voluntary framework expires in April 2026, and Politiken reported that Hummelgaard said that if the Years of political stalemate As long as chat control is not resolved, it will leave the EU without any legal tools to fight bad actors using messaging services.
Backtracking on chat control was reported to ensure that a new framework could be implemented before the deadline.
Tech and privacy giants celebrate advocates
X Government Government Group said On Saturday, Denmark’s withdrawal was a “major defeat for mass surveillance advocates,” and the platform will “continue to monitor the progress of these negotiations and oppose any efforts to implement government mass surveillance of users.”
Patrick Hansen, the director of EU strategy and policy at the StableCoin Issuer Circle, also applauded the news and stated This is a “major win for digital freedoms in the EU.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties nonprofit, shared a similar stance and speculated public pressure “pushed the EU council to withdraw the dangerous plan to scan encrypted messages.”
Lawmakers need to give up mass surveillance
Thorin Klosowski, a security and privacy activist with EFF, said In a blog post on Friday that lawmakers should stop trying to override encryption under the guise of public safety.
He argues that the focus should be on “developing real solutions that do not violate the human rights of people around the world.”
Related: Privacy Group Urges Ireland to Drop Work on ‘Backdoor Law’
“As long as legislators continue to misunderstand the encryption technology, there is no way forward with scan-scan proposals, not in the EU or anywhere else,” he said.
“This kind of surveillance is not just an overreach; it is an attack on basic human rights. The upcoming EU presidencies must abandon these attempts and work on finding a solution that protects people’s privacy and security.”
Ireland is suppose The Presidency of the Council of the EU in July 2026, which took the stones from Denmark after a year on paper.
Magazine: WorldCoin’s less ‘dystopian,’ more Cypherpunk’s rival: billions of networks
