On Wednesday 5 February, the Member States will resume their work in the working group on the Regulation on the removal of child sexual abuse material from the Internet (CSAM), which had not yet been approved under the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13544/3).
In a new version, published in particular by Netzpolitik, the Polish Presidency is tackling the most controversial aspect of this regulation, presented by the Commission in May 2022, namely the compulsory orders to platforms to detect ‘CSAM’ content on private messaging platforms and services, which is tantamount to widespread surveillance of private communications.
It proposes making the current voluntary content detection solution permanent, as permitted by the temporary derogation from the e-privacy directive on the confidentiality of communications, which will expire in 2026.
The new compromise provides for the following: - detection orders are deleted; - a review clause is maintained and the Commission is invited to assess, within three years, the legal and technological possibilities of compulsory detection in the future; - the derogation from certain provisions of the e-privacy directive is included in the regulation as a permanent measure; - prevention aspects are strengthened throughout the text, in particular as regards the tasks of the coordinating authorities, other competent authorities and the EU Centre; - greater emphasis is placed on measures to protect children in the digital environment. Providers of high-risk services should be required to contribute to the development of reliable and accurate technologies for detecting abuse.
Link to the proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/fc7 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)