Denmark Reportedly Withdraws 'Chat Control' Proposal Following Controversy (therecord.media)
(Friday October 31, 2025 @06:50PM (BeauHD)
from the would-you-look-at-that dept.)
- Reference: 0179924232
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/10/31/205234/denmark-reportedly-withdraws-chat-control-proposal-following-controversy
- Source link: https://therecord.media/demark-reportedly-withdraws-chat-control-proposal
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Record:
> Denmark's justice minister on Thursday said he will [1]no longer push for an EU law requiring the mandatory scanning of electronic messages , including on end-to-end encrypted platforms. Earlier in its European Council presidency, Denmark had brought back a draft law which would have required the scanning, sparking an [2]intense backlash . Known as Chat Control, the measure was intended to crack down on the trafficking of child sex abuse materials (CSAM). After days of silence, the German government on October 8 announced it would not support the proposal, tanking the Danish effort.
>
> Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told reporters on Thursday that his office will support voluntary CSAM detections. "This will mean that the search warrant will not be part of the EU presidency's new compromise proposal, and that it will continue to be voluntary for the tech giants to search for child sexual abuse material," Hummelgaard said, according to local news reports. The current model allowing for voluntary scanning expires in April, Hummelgaard said. "Right now we are in a situation where we risk completely losing a central tool in the fight against sexual abuse of children," he said. "That's why we have to act no matter what. We owe it to all the children who are subjected to monstrous abuse."
[1] https://therecord.media/demark-reportedly-withdraws-chat-control-proposal
[2] https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/10/09/1017255/one-man-spam-campaign-ravages-eu-chat-control-bill
> Denmark's justice minister on Thursday said he will [1]no longer push for an EU law requiring the mandatory scanning of electronic messages , including on end-to-end encrypted platforms. Earlier in its European Council presidency, Denmark had brought back a draft law which would have required the scanning, sparking an [2]intense backlash . Known as Chat Control, the measure was intended to crack down on the trafficking of child sex abuse materials (CSAM). After days of silence, the German government on October 8 announced it would not support the proposal, tanking the Danish effort.
>
> Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told reporters on Thursday that his office will support voluntary CSAM detections. "This will mean that the search warrant will not be part of the EU presidency's new compromise proposal, and that it will continue to be voluntary for the tech giants to search for child sexual abuse material," Hummelgaard said, according to local news reports. The current model allowing for voluntary scanning expires in April, Hummelgaard said. "Right now we are in a situation where we risk completely losing a central tool in the fight against sexual abuse of children," he said. "That's why we have to act no matter what. We owe it to all the children who are subjected to monstrous abuse."
[1] https://therecord.media/demark-reportedly-withdraws-chat-control-proposal
[2] https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/10/09/1017255/one-man-spam-campaign-ravages-eu-chat-control-bill
This is horrible. (Score:2)
Very hard to face the reality that the EU is still trying to do this, salami-tactic and boiling the frog for years and years now. This is definitely not over and will keep popping up until they succeed.
Even worse that Denmark, of all places, was pushing for this.
I have no idea what led them to this madness.
Re: (Score:1)
Neither do the Danes! But we are a democracy. The next election is required to take place before oktober 31 2026, and I can assure you - by popular opinion - he will not be our next minister of justice.
Re: (Score:3)
The "We think that some of you might be passing around illegal material, so it is imperative that we be given the power to invasively look at everyone's private communications. We're only going to be looking for this one narrow category of illegal material, and we won't look at anything else. Honest. You can trust us not to abuse this." declaration using the justification "we have to protect the children !" is one of the most abusable power grabs ever. Once a government has the power to read all your commu
Re: (Score:2)
For every law that has such an impact on our privacy, I think a few questions would need to be answered as part of the bill:
- What is the impact on our rights, and is that proportionate to the expected effects of the bill?
- What is the expected effect of the bill?
- How and when will that be measured?
With the understanding that if the bill does not have the desired effects (all kiddie porn will simply be moved through other channels), the law will be rescinded, not by vote but automatically