EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS NARROWER PRIVACY EXEMPTION FOR ONLINE CHILD ABUSE DETECTION

Fri 10 July 2026:

The European Parliament adopted amendments Thursday to a proposed extension of an exemption to EU privacy rules that would allow electronic communications providers to voluntarily detect online child sexual abuse, while seeking to exempt end-to-end encrypted communications from the measure.

Lawmakers approved amendments to the EU Council’s position on the temporary derogation from the ePrivacy Directive, proposing that communications protected by end-to-end encryption be excluded from the scope of the legislation, according to a statement.

The European Parliament’s amended text will be forwarded to the European Council, which has three months to decide whether to accept the amendments.

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If the EU Council does not approve all of parliament’s proposed changes, the legislation will proceed to conciliation talks between the two institutions to reach a final agreement.

The EU Council’s proposal would restore a temporary exemption that expired in April, allowing providers of certain electronic communications services to voluntarily detect, remove and report child sexual abuse material and instances of online child solicitation in private communications.

The temporary exemption is intended to prevent a legal gap while negotiations continue on a permanent EU framework to combat online child sexual abuse.

Negotiations on a permanent legislative framework remain ongoing.

Most elements of the proposed law were agreed during the Greek Cypriot Administration’s presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2026, with discussions continuing on several outstanding issues, according to the European Parliament.

-Source: AA

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