More members of the European Parliament voted against reviving Europe's voluntary message scanning rules on Thursday than voted for them. The legislation passed anyway.
Under the procedural rules used to bring the vote to the floor, stopping the regulation required an absolute majority of 361 MEPs to vote against it. Only 314 did. The result reinstated Regulation (EU) 2021/1232, the temporary ePrivacy derogation known among critics as Chat Control 1.0, through April 3, 2028. The regulation had previously expired on April 3, 2026.
Why the law came back after Parliament rejected it in March
Parliament had already voted against a similar extension in March, 311 votes to 228, with 92 abstentions. The European People's Party, the largest political group in Parliament, used an urgent procedure to bring the legislation back for a fresh vote before the summer recess. That route skips the preliminary committee debates where amendments would typically be introduced. It also set the bar to reject the regulation at an absolute majority of 361 votes rather than a simple majority.
EPP vice-chair Tomas Tobé defended the urgency on the floor.
"We cannot go to the summer recess knowing that our children are not protected," he told lawmakers.
Former Pirate Party MEP Patrick Breyer described the outcome as a "farce."
"The fact that Chat Control is moving forward against the will of the majority of voting MEPs is a farce and damages democracy," Breyer said. "Our children are the real losers in this undemocratic process. The passage of a genuine, permanent child protection regulation is now in serious jeopardy. The Council will never agree to a desperately needed paradigm shift as long as they can simply stick to the old approach of suspicionless scanning at the whim of the tech industry."
What the law covers and what the encryption exemption secured
The reinstated regulation permits but does not require voluntary scanning of private messages for child sexual abuse material. It does not mandate the breaking of end-to-end encryption and gives no government direct access to private messages. According to Breyer, platforms such as Instagram, Discord, and Snapchat are affected, as are email providers including Gmail and iCloud.
End-to-end encrypted services are excluded after an amendment passed with an absolute majority. Pirate Party MEP Marketa Gregorova, whose party put forward that amendment, described the result as mixed.
"Protecting encryption was one of our priorities, and I am therefore glad that we managed to secure an absolute majority for an amendment that at least preserves encryption. At the same time, however, voluntary mass scanning unfortunately passed," she said.
Simeon de Brouwer, policy adviser at the Brussels-based advocacy group European Digital Rights, told WIRED that the ruling gives private companies a legal basis to inspect user communications at their discretion.
"It will mean that private companies may deny your right to have confidential digital conversations," he said. "They could, if they want to, read every message you write, every email you send, every picture you share."
Data on scanning effectiveness that critics cite
Breyer cited European Commission figures and German law enforcement data to challenge the case for mass scanning. According to Commission data he cited, mass scanning of private chats accounted for just 36% of abuse reports in 2024. The majority came from public posts and cloud storage.
Breyer also cited a figure that 99% of Meta's reports under chat control involve previously known material. The European Commission itself, he said, admits there is no evidence that suspicionless scanning of private messages has increased convictions or resulted in more children being rescued.
"Trying to protect children with suspicionless mass surveillance is like frantically mopping the floor while the faucet is still running. Blanket chat control is just as unacceptable as indiscriminately opening everyone's physical mail," Breyer said. "For five years, this failed system has served as a smokescreen to delay real action, all while overwhelming the police with false alarms."
Where the permanent Chat Control 2.0 stands now
Thursday's vote is entirely separate from the permanent proposal, known as Chat Control 2.0 or the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation. That legislation would impose mandatory detection and reporting obligations on digital platforms and remains stuck in trilogue negotiations between Parliament and the Council. A final trilogue scheduled for June 29, 2026 collapsed over the question of suspicionless scanning. Negotiations are set to resume in September under the Irish presidency.
Parliament's position on Chat Control 2.0 holds that scanning of private communications must be limited to users under specific suspicion and subject to a court order. The Council's position favors broader voluntary detection requirements alongside risk-mitigation duties that critics argue would effectively push platforms toward mass scanning in practice. The laws passed Thursday with Parliament's amendments will go to the Council of the EU for approval or rejection.
Breyer said the resistance inside Parliament on Thursday signals that passing the permanent version will face an even harder road.
"The resistance we saw in Parliament today was so strong that finding a majority for permanent, suspicionless mass scanning in future negotiations is a complete pipe dream," he said.
Jordan V.
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