Insufficient support
EU plan to screen WhatsApp and Co. failed
October 8, 2025, 7:55 p.m
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In the fight against child pornography, Denmark, among others, wants to be able to scan chat messengers for criminal content. The idea caused alarm among data protectionists, and the project has now failed in Brussels. Germany is also partly responsible for this.
The EU states have once again failed to reach an agreement on a controversial “chat control” in the fight against child pornography. A compromise proposal from the Danish EU Council Presidency did not receive sufficient support, according to diplomatic circles. The project will therefore not be put to a vote at the next EU interior ministers’ meeting as planned.
However, the topic is not necessarily off the table. Denmark or the next EU Council Presidency could put a revised proposal back up for discussion.
The ambassadors of the EU countries met in the evening to discuss a three-year-old legislative proposal from the EU Commission to combat child pornography. According to the plan, services such as WhatsApp, Signal and Co. will search messages on messengers for child pornographic content. The proposal under discussion includes checking images, videos and URLs – pure text messages are excluded.
No approval from Germany
The German position is also considered a reason for the failure. Germany would not have agreed to the present proposal if it had been voted on. “Unreasonable chat control must be taboo in a constitutional state,” said Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig. In order to adopt the regulation, the Council of Member States ultimately needs the consent of 15 of the 27 EU states, which together make up at least 65 percent of the total EU population.
Critics repeatedly point out the dangers of mass surveillance. Data protection advocates in particular see the approach as a massive invasion of privacy. The service providers are also against the EU plans – the messenger Signal even threatened to withdraw from the European market.
Proponents, however, emphasize that there are already voluntary inspections of the service. According to the EU Commission, data protection authorities would strictly monitor chat analysis.
