Interinstitutional negotiations on the provisional derogation from data protection rules to combat child pornography could start very soon. The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) gave its consent on Monday 7 December to the start of the discussions, which must now be validated in plenary.
This is due to the very essence of the proposed Regulation, which introduces a derogation from the confidentiality rules contained in the e-Privacy Directive in order to allow online communication services to continue to detect and report child sexual abuse content on a voluntary basis (see EUROPE 12557/13, 12575/25).
These services, exemplified by WhatsApp and Skype, will in fact fall within the scope of the Electronic Communications Code which will apply from 21 December 2020.
“Child pornography is a horrible crime and we need to do better to prevent it, prosecute offenders and help survivors, both online and offline. Parliament therefore wishes to continue the existing legal practice of analysing child pornography content online”, commented Birgit Sippel (S&D, Germany), rapporteur for the European Parliament. However, she acknowledged that the European Commission’s proposal was not ideal. “The Commission has failed to provide basic information on the additional technologies it wants to legalise, without even knowing whether they exist in the EU”, she said, expressing readiness to find legally sound solutions in negotiations with the EU Council. The latter defined its position on 28 October last (see EUROPE 12592/20).
The rejection amendments tabled by Patrick Breyer (Greens/EFA, Germany) and Cornelia Ernst (GUE/NGL, Germany) were not adopted.
“The proposal does not protect children but exposes children and adults alike to major risks (such as AI algorithms falsely flagging legal intimate depictions and conversations of children and adults relating to their health and sexual life) and violates the fundamental rights of millions of children and adults”, commented Patrick Breyer. “According to the Court of Justice, a permanent automated analysis of communications is proportionate only if limited to suspects (Case C-511/18), which the proposal is not.”
The resolution was adopted by 53 votes in favour, 9 against and 2 abstentions. The decision to enter into negotiations was adopted by 54 votes to 10. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)