The European Union’s proposal to establish a system of mass control over private communications, known as ‘Chat Control,’ is facing mounting resistance. After open rejection from the Netherlands, Austria, and Poland, the Czech Republic has now announced that it will not support a measure that would allow the automatic scanning of messages, emails, and files sent through digital platforms.
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Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has taken a clear stance. “On behalf of the entire SPOLU coalition, I want to say it clearly: we will not allow surveillance of citizens’ private correspondence,” he declared in a statement.
The prime minister underlined that protecting minors from abuse on the internet is a legitimate goal, but not at any cost. “Protecting our children is important, but we must achieve it in another way. Not by breaking the privacy of millions of people. That is dangerous and could be abused,” he warned, making it clear that the Czech Republic will maintain its negative vote in the EU Council.
An initiative presented as ‘child protection’
The draft regulation, first introduced in 2022 and now revived under the umbrella of the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR), would oblige digital service providers to scan user messages in search of material related to child pornography or exploitation of minors. Suspicious data would automatically be forwarded to the appropriate authorities.
Brussels argues that this is a key tool to combat serious crime in the digital environment. Critics, however, warn that the system would turn the EU into an unprecedented laboratory of mass surveillance, comparing it to “the postal service opening every letter before delivering it.”
The Czech position complicates the plans of Denmark, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council and has placed Chat Control among its priorities. According to the watchdog portal Fight Chat Control, 15 member states appear ready to support the measure—including Spain, France, and Italy—while another nine remain undecided.
The Czech Republic’s opposition strengthens the coalition of countries that argue the European Commission is using the pretext of child protection to justify a generalized intrusion into the private lives of millions of Europeans. At the same time, it highlights a political dilemma: how to reconcile the fight against online crime with the safeguarding of fundamental freedoms.
