Germany controversially proposes 'chat control'-plan by the committee

Germany will not vote on the controversial 'chat control' proposal in the EU's ministerial meeting next week, according to the German parliament.

The proposal, which is part of the regulation, includes encrypted messaging services such as Telegram, Signal, and iMessage scanning users' links and images on their phones before they are sent. (Photo: © Justin Tallis, AFP/Ritzau Scanpix)

By August Olaf Jersild ([email protected]) 28 minutes ago

Germany does not support the Danish proposal for the so-called CSA regulation, which critics call 'chat control.' (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/hummelgaard-vil-aabne-en-bagdoer-til-vores-telefoner-og-vil-ikke-sige-hvor-graensen)

The proposal was supposed to be voted on on Tuesday in the EU's ministerial meeting, but it has now been removed from the agenda.

The Danish government, which currently holds the EU presidency, has decided to withdraw the proposal from the vote. This is stated in a press release from the German parliament. (https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/kurzmeldungen-1113682)

- Both ministries emphasized (the German interior and justice ministry, ed.) that they, like many other EU countries, do not support the Danish proposal in its current form, it is stated.

The CSA regulation, which would open a backdoor to all Europeans' phones in an attempt to catch and track criminals who share child sexual abuse material, has faced massive criticism from various angles.

Among other things, 500 researchers from 34 countries worldwide, including 25 from Danish universities, have signed a letter criticizing the CSA regulation (https://csa-scientist-open-letter.org/Sep2025) as they, among other things, believe that the method will be ineffective, and that there will be a high risk of misuse of information.

And leading cryptography experts have compared the proposal to placing a spy microphone in everyone's pockets. (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/viden/teknologi/analyse-derfor-holder-hummelgaards-udsagn-om-kryptering-ikke)

---------------------------------------

'Hard to imagine it happening'

---------------------------------------

DR's tech correspondent, Henrik Moltke, calls the German rejection a step in the right direction for the Danish government.

- They have been pushing hard to get this highly controversial legislative proposal passed despite strong criticism from experts. That it is Germany, which puts its foot down and calls it 'chat control' and mass surveillance, is perhaps not so surprising given Germany's experiences with extensive surveillance and mind control under the DDR regime.

- And even though there is still a cat in the bag regarding taking the proposal up in a revised form later, I have a hard time imagining it happening, unless the proposal changes character, he says.

Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard (S) confirms in a written response to DR News that the proposal will not be discussed at the council meeting next week.

- It is not a secret that it is a difficult matter with many considerations that need to be balanced. This is shown by the extensive public debate that has taken place in recent times.

- Since there is not yet, before the council meeting next week, established the necessary support for the current compromise proposal, the proposal will not be discussed by the ministers at the council meeting.

Despite not having succeeded in finding the necessary support, the justice minister does not give up.

- The Danish EU presidency will continue to work with member states to find a solution, and therefore the negotiations on the technical details of the proposal continue. The urgency of finding common ground here is evident, the minister says with reference to the fact that every year millions of files are shared that show child sexual abuse.

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=undefined)

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.