EU lawmakers are set to vote again on controversial legislation dubbed “chat control” by critics that would allow tech companies to scan messages for child sexual abuse material.
The European Parliament voted on Tuesday under a rarely used emergency procedure that will lead to a Thursday vote by lawmakers on extending a legal framework that expired in early April.
“Today’s vote violates our rules of procedure. The European Parliament has decided to use an urgent procedure to control chat 1.0,” Pirate Party MEP Markéta Gregorová he said on Tuesday. “This means that on Thursday we will vote again on extending the derogation that allowed online platforms to scan our private communications.”
The upcoming vote could reinstate so-called “chat control” rules that have been controversial among privacy and cryptography advocates because tech companies must scan end-to-end encrypted messages.
Since the legal framework expired in April, messaging platforms such as WhatsApp can take their own voluntary action to find people sharing offensive material.
Rejection of the proposal requires an absolute majority
Gregorová said that rejecting or amending the proposal would require an absolute majority of 361 votes in parliament.
Tuesday’s vote passed narrowly, with 331 votes in favor, 304 against and 11 abstentions.
Parliament in March rejected fleeting extension of the program proposed by the European Commission for the duration of the discussion on the up-to-date version of the law by 311 votes against, 228 for and 92 abstentions.
Euro News reported on Tuesday that the European People’s Party, the largest group in Parliament, reiterated the latest proposal, which had largely voted against it in March because of amendments limiting the scope of chat scanning.
However, European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber was looking for ways to push through the extension without changes.
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“The European People’s Party is abusing its position as the largest political group to restore, through a procedural loophole, a proposal that Parliament has already rejected,” Gregorová said. “It’s unprecedented.”
Last month, EU member states agreed to reinstate a fleeting “chat control” measure that will allow service providers to detect, report and remove offensive material until 2028.
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