Skepticism about the “Chat Control” draft law

In order to prevent the spread of child abuse images on the Internet, the EU wants to introduce a new law. As a result, messengers such as WhatsApp are to be obliged to search for consumables by official order.

This means that messenger services and chat providers must check all of their content for suspicious material.

Back in October we reported on great skepticism regarding the effectiveness of the new chat controls. A report there also questioned the draft: “It is questionable whether the draft regulation represents any added value for the intended project.” One could therefore not say with any certainty that messengers “played a major role in the distribution of child pornography files.”

Austria is opposing the EU Commission

As futurezone reports, Austria was the first country in the European Union to announce that it clearly rejects the EU Commission's proposed regulation. This was decided in a resolution by an EU subcommittee of the National Council. The proposal for this resolution comes from the Green Party politician Süleyman Zorba, who politically advocated for the non-recognition of the regulation.

on Twitter : “An unfounded mass surveillance will not increase the safety of children on the Internet and opens the door to misuse by authoritarian governments.”

The majority of MPs from the Greens, OVP, SPÖ and Neos accepted his motion and supported Zorba: “Together with the votes of the ÖVP, Neos and SPÖ, we have passed a motion that makes it clear: Austria will only agree if the EU Commission presents a proposal for child protection online that complies with fundamental rights,” his account continued.

EU demands “design that complies with fundamental rights” and no surveillance

The resolution now stipulates that the Austrian federal government may not agree to the EU proposal as long as it does not comply with fundamental rights. That is why the EU is now calling for a revision of the regulation:

General monitoring obligations for online providers should be excluded . In addition, end-to-end encryption of communication must be maintained . These are two demands with regard to the design of the draft law in accordance with fundamental rights.

There is currently no exception to the control for services that include end-to-end encryption (e.g. WhatsApp).

The decision of the subcommittee resolution is binding for all members of the government unless there are “compelling integration and foreign policy reasons” to deviate from the decision. In addition, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior assured that concerns regarding the new regulation would be incorporated into the Austrian legal act.

Civil rights organizations are relieved

Some civil rights organizations have been warning about the new chat control bill for months and are now relieved by Austria's strict rejection.

Epicenter.works writes on its website after Parliament's decision: “A good day for the open, free Internet and privacy. The danger posed by mandatory filters that scan all our communication and are prone to errors is incompatible with a liberal democracy,” it is said.

Chaos Computer Club (CCC) also comments on Austria's decision and calls on the German government to do the same: “After Austrian politicians sent a clear signal against chat control in their vote, German politicians must now follow suit and put a stop to these dangerous and senseless plans.”

The next conference, in which the new chat control will also be a topic, is scheduled to take place at the beginning of December.

Author: Nick L.

Sources:

netzpolitik , futurezone , epicenter.works , Chaos Computer Club

This might also be of interest: EU chat control: report calls draft law into question


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