Brussels – Striking a balance between protecting children online and safeguarding the privacy of communications remains a complex challenge. The European Parliament is moving in this direction and, with today’s vote (9 July), adopted a series of amendments to the Council’s position on extending the derogation from privacy rules (ePrivacy Directive) to combat online sexual abuse of children. In effect, MEPs are calling for “communications to which end-to-end encryption is, has been, or will be applied” to be excluded from the scope of the ePrivacy Regulation when detecting online sexual abuse of children (i.e. a communication system in which data is encrypted on the sender’s device and decrypted only on the recipient’s device).
This issue forms part of a wider context: the European Union is working on permanent legislation to step up the fight against online sexual abuse of children. The current derogation is transitional in nature and aims to fill the regulatory gap pending the introduction of the new rules. At the same time, the European Parliament and the Council have already reached an agreement on updating the relevant criminal law provisions. However, the debate remains sensitive, as it involves two fundamental principles: on the one hand, the need to protect children from serious crimes; on the other, the protection of citizens’ privacy and the security of their digital communications.
The derogation represents a temporary exception to the European rules on the confidentiality of communications and allows digital service providers, such as messaging and email platforms, to voluntarily identify, report, and remove illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and cases of child grooming. The Council of the EU had proposed extending this provision until April 2028, to avoid a regulatory vacuum pending the adoption of permanent legislation.
While the Parliament did not reject the proposal, it chose to limit its scope. In particular, MEPs are calling for end-to-end encrypted communications, such as those offered by many messaging apps, to be explicitly excluded from the exemption’s scope. In such cases, therefore, the content should not be subject to automated scanning by service providers.
The vote highlighted divisions within the chamber. The proposals to reject the Council’s position in its entirety failed to secure the required absolute majority (360 votes), leading to the adoption of an amended text. This concludes Parliament’s second reading, in which it amends the Council’s text without blocking it. The position adopted will now be forwarded to the Council, which will have three months to decide whether to accept all the amendments. If not, a conciliation phase will begin between the two institutions to reach a compromise on the final text.
Both the ruling coalition and the opposition expressed their satisfaction. Gaetano Pedullà, MEP for the Five Star Movement (The Left), emphasised that, “by approving Amendment 30, which prohibits the application of the regulation to end-to-end encrypted private conversations, we have safeguarded citizens’ privacy.” And, should “the Council fail to accept the amendments to the text proposed by the European Parliament within three months, the conciliation procedure will begin, but we warn them: do not try to overturn the outcome of this vote. Under the pretext of protecting children, some governments would in fact like to secure a powerful tool for the surveillance and control of citizens, but respect for privacy is sacrosanct. We will prevent a European Big Brother.” Carlo Fidanza, MEP for Fratelli d’Italia (European Conservatives and Reformists, ECR), also welcomed the decision: “End-to-end encryption is off limits. Protecting children from online sexual abuse is an absolute priority. There is no doubt about that, but protecting children and combating online predators cannot mean abandoning the principles of the rule of law: citizens’ security also depends on safeguarding the confidentiality of their communications.” He added: “Our stance remains the same: zero tolerance for those who exploit and abuse children, but also zero tolerance for any weakening of end-to-end encryption and fundamental freedoms.”
