After the EU vote on "Chat Control," Google, Microsoft, and Meta may soon be able to scan your messages. No suspicion against you is needed for this. Simply using one of their services is enough. The only exceptions are messages that are end-to-end encrypted. However, plans already exist for them as well. All of this is justified by the detection of child sexual abuse material. But even child protection advocates doubt whether mass scans will actually help children. And the vote itself has already caused outrage: critics are calling it an abuse of procedural rules in the EU Parliament.
On July 9, the EU Parliament voted again on the so-called Chat Control – in a chaotic vote that many MEPs describe as a scandal and which drew sharp criticism. This is because 286 MEPs voted against Chat Control, with only 276 in favor. Nevertheless, the motion was passed. Thus, Google, Microsoft, and Meta will likely soon be allowed to search their users' private messages again.
Vote until the result fits – EU Parliament rejected chat control in March, EPP votes again
Although a majority in the EU Parliament voted against the motion, it was adopted. The reason: Conservative Parliament President Roberta Metsola had scheduled the vote as an urgent procedure. In an urgent procedure, a "no" vote requires an absolute majority – 360 out of 719 representatives. DHowever, the vote took place on the very last day of the session before the summer recess. Many representatives were already on vacation or absent for other reasons. Therefore, there were not enough no votes.
Actually, the matter was already considered settled: Already In March, the European Parliament clearly rejected the "Chat Control" proposal. But the EPP apparently did not accept the "no" vote. Parliament President Roberta Metsola – even the EPP – surprisingly brought the issue back on the agenda. The same proposal was simply voted on again – this time under urgent procedure, shortly before the summer break.
The former Member of the European Parliament Fabio De Masi describes the procedure as follows: A vote will be taken „until the result is satisfactory.“ From the Green Party Caucus it said the process is abusing a loophole in the procedure. And FDP member of parliament Moritz Körner calls the procedure the „dirtiest“, that he has ever experienced in parliament.
Satirist points to the rules of procedure - Parliament President turns off his microphone
One person still tried to stop the whole thing: Martin Sonneborn of the satirical party Die PARTEI. The weekend before, he wrote a letter to Metsola together with the author and Member of the European Parliament Sybille Berg. Their argument: The fast-track procedure violates Parliament’s Rules of Procedure. It is intended for emergencies such as wars and major disasters. But in this case, the fast-track procedure is being used to push through a law that Parliament has already rejected.
On Monday, Sonneborn then takes the podium and once again calls on Metsola to declare the procedure inadmissible. But after exactly 60 seconds, the president cuts off his microphone. The video of it is spreading rapidly online.
On X, Sonneborn draws a bitter conclusion: “Thursday is the last day before the summer recess, and many MEPs are likely already on their way to vacation. Only a mischievous person would think ill of this timing… Smiley!” On Thursday, after the vote, he then writes: „Chat monitoring is coming. Not a good day for freedom and civil rights…“
Chat control is coming. Not a good day for freedom & civil rights… A man in a blue bandana and a black shirt is holding a blue and white baseball bat. He is standing in front of a concrete wall with yellow markings.
— Martin Sonneborn (@MartinSonneborn) July 9, 2026
Chat control expired in the EU in April – After the vote in parliament, it is now coming back
Nothing new was decided, by the way. Chat control has existed since 2021. Large providers like Google, Microsoft, and Meta were then allowed to voluntarily scan their users' messages for depictions of child abuse. They received an exception to EU data protection rules for this. Exactly this exception Leaves on April 3rd, because parliament did not want to extend it. Now it's coming back - and is supposed to valid through April 2028.
What that means for you: News will be automatically screened
Specifically, this means that software automatically scans what you write and send. It compares your photos and videos with databases of known abusive material. Artificial intelligence is also designed to detect unknown material. If the program raises an alert, a company employee will review your message. If the employee confirms the suspicion, your private communication will be forwarded to the authorities.
Nobody needs a suspicion against you for that. Nobody needs a court order. It's enough that you use one of these services. According to Commission figures However, only a fraction of the scrutinized news leads to a hit.
Chat control makes mistakes – intimate images could end up with corporations and authorities
And that's exactly where the problem lies. The software makes mistakes. She could theoretically report a holiday photo of her own child on the beach as a suspected case. She can classify consensual sexting between two 17-year-olds as abuse. Then your most intimate pictures end up on the screen of a stranger's corporate employee – and, if in doubt, with the police.
At least Parliament has enforced an important restriction: End-to-end encrypted messages are excluded. So your WhatsApp or Signal chat will remain on the sidelines for now. Unencrypted services are primarily affected: emails at Gmail and Outlook, chats on platforms, cloud storage.
Commission and Council also want to scrutinize end-to-end encrypted messages
The „Chat Control 1.0“ that has now been decided is only a placeholder. In parallel, the Council and Parliament are negotiating the permanent „Chat Control 2.0“mandatory scans for all providers, even for encrypted services. This means every one of your messages will be automatically scanned – before it is encrypted. Experts call this Client-Side Scanning – and criticize it sharply. Because it would effectively abolish end-to-end encryption.
The parliament currently rejects it and demands the opposite: targeted surveillance only for specific suspects, with judicial oversight. However, as long as the voluntary version – Chat Control 1.0 – is in effect, the Council has little reason to accommodate the parliament. EU Member of Parliament Patrick Breyer of the Pirate Party, the loudest critic of the plans for years, warns precisely against this: Version 1.0 keeps the old approach alive and weakens the parliament's negotiating position.
Analyzing data is the business model of tech giants.
The tech giants are the biggest beneficiaries of this regulation. Meta, Google, and Microsoft have been scanning voluntarily for years. Their business model relies on evaluating data anyway. An EU regulation that normalizes the scrutiny of private messages plays into their hands.
In addition, there is an industry that directly profits from surveillance: companies like Thorn, co-founded by actor Ashton Kutcher, sell precisely the scan software in question. Search for the investigative platform „Follow the Money“ uncovered the company's close contacts with the EU Commission. The EU Ombudsman reprimanded the case.
Child protection advocates demand more money for prevention and child protection centers instead of surveillance
There are also massive doubts as to whether this is really about child protection – and they don't just come from civil rights activists. The German Child Protection Association argues, that abuse material is generally not exchanged via private messengers at all. The Commission has so far failed to provide proof that mass scans lead to more convictions. Your according to Eigen" only a fraction of the scans lead to a hit in the first place. And when the regulation was suspended for months in the spring, the number of suspicious reports did not drop. The instrument was missing – and no one noticed.
Critics like the Green Party's Erik Marquardt say that those who want to protect children effectively would have to invest in investigators, prevention, and a European Child Protection Center. Instead, political energy is flowing into a surveillance infrastructure.
Of course, I understand the goal of protecting children from online abuse. But searching everyone's private messages on suspicion is a massive violation of our privacy. If such a tool once exists, the question also arises of who else might use it for other purposes in the future.
Exactly these kinds of decisions cause many people to lose trust in politics. First something is rejected, and then they push it through with a new vote. When it comes to protecting our children, we need solutions, not blanket surveillance of all citizens!!
I like that. They should just track down every perpetrator!!!!
Honestly, I don't really know why there's so much outrage about this chat control right now. Companies have been monitoring us for years, but perpetrators still aren't punished. Now at least the surveillance is being used and legally secured. That's a good thing!