The European Union still struggles to reach a consensus on its controversial ‘Chat Control’ regulation after a scheduled vote in the European Council on September 12th was postponed indefinitely. Estonia’s shift from undecided to opposing the proposal contributed to a blocking minority, while several governments cited fundamental rights concerns. Because of this stalemate, the Bundestag is now debating Germany’s position ahead of the decisive Council vote on October 14th.
The ruling CDU/CSU party has taken a clear stance against the proposal, which is officially promoted as a way to combat “child sexual abuse” online.
“We, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, oppose the random monitoring of chats,” said Jens Spahn, the group’s parliamentary leader. At the same time, Spahn underlined the importance of tackling child abuse. “Ultimately, the regulation planned at the European level must effectively protect children–without compromising the security and confidentiality of individual communications.”
The EU Commission’s plan would require social media platforms and messaging services to “preemptively review private chats for potential criminal offenses.” AI-supported systems would scan messages, photos, and videos before they are encrypted and sent, flagging potential depictions of child abuse for transmission to European authorities. Providers like Meta currently perform such checks voluntarily, but the new regulation would make them mandatory, even in encrypted environments.
It is not only Germany’s center-right parties that oppose the scheme. “We naturally support combating depictions of sexualized violence,” said Elena Frense, the German Child Protection Association’s media and digital specialist, but she added:. “The so-called chat control deeply invades everyone’s privacy—including that of children. They also have a right to confidential communication.” Instead of “indiscriminate mass surveillance,” the association calls for targeted measures, including prevention, education, stricter security standards for providers, and more effective use of existing investigative powers. “The protection of children must remain compatible with children’s and fundamental rights,” Frense emphasized.
The German Bar Association warned of a “massive interference with civil liberties,” while Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has long opposed any “weakening of encryption standards,” arguing that such steps threaten both consumer protection and national security.
The regulation has also drawn sharp Europe-wide criticism from technology companies, digital rights groups, and legal professionals. Even the EU Council’s own legal service has classified the proposal as a violation of fundamental rights, and Signal, WhatsApp, and Threema have all spoken out against the plan.
Signal President Meredith Whittaker warned that if the EU mandates client-side scanning, “we would unfortunately choose to leave the market” rather than weaken encryption. Threema emphasized that “mass surveillance is incompatible with democracy,” stressing that privacy is “a fundamental human right.” Meta, operator of WhatsApp, stated that the EU Council’s latest proposal “continues to undermine end-to-end encryption and endangers everyone’s privacy, freedom, and digital security.”
X also issued a statement calling the initiative “a dangerous measure,” urging countries such as Germany and Poland to vote no to prevent “state-mandated mass surveillance of their citizens.”
