The Council of the European Union announced on Thursday 2 July that it had adopted at first reading its position aimed at extending - until 3 April 2028 - the derogation from the ‘ePrivacy’ Directive, which authorises digital platforms voluntarily to detect child sexual abuse material (see EUROPE 13897/11).
This EU Council position “paves the way for online service providers to resume their efforts to detect child sexual abuse online and report it to the police”, Irish Minister for Home Affairs Jim O’Callaghan said in a statement.
As the previous derogation expired at the beginning of April, the EU Council now wants the new provision to enter into force as soon as possible in order to fill the legal vacuum until the future legal framework facilitating the detection of child sexual abuse online is put in place (see EUROPE 13899/23).
Following the initiative by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in mid-June, at the European Summit, the EPP Group is urging MEPs to come to agreement on the EU Council’s position. A plenary vote is now scheduled for Tuesday 7 July in Strasbourg. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)