The Law is proposed by the EU to combat child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online.
Requires scanning of private messages (originally text and audio, now photos, videos, and URLs) for CSAM.
Opposition to the Law:
Privacy Concerns: Scanning encrypted messages creates backdoors for potential exploitation by third parties.
Slippery Slope: Scanning for one type of content opens the door for broader surveillance.
Ineffectiveness:
Can be misused by authoritarian governments to target dissenters.
Users can be coerced into consenting to scanning or blocked from sending certain content.
Tech Company Opposition:
Apple and Signal oppose the law due to privacy risks.
Signal threatens to leave the EU if the law is passed.
Current Status:
EU revised the proposal to exclude text and audio message scanning.
Users might have a say in content scanning before encryption (considered a weak compromise).
Temporary regulation allowing message scanning for CSAM is expiring in August.
Arguments For the Law:
Proponents aim to:
Protect children from online predators.
Reduce the spread of CSAM content.
The proposed "Chat Control" law raises significant privacy concerns and faces strong opposition.
The EU is trying to find a balance between protecting children and safeguarding privacy, but the current solution seems unsatisfactory.
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