The tours continue around the EU’s new “surveillance law”. Now a partial decision is deferred to the future.
There will be no united front from the EU’s Council of Ministers regarding the so-called “chat control” surveillance law. At least not yet. The item has been deleted from the agenda when the justice and interior ministers meet next Friday, September 28.
The proposal on how internet giants and platforms should act against abusive material online has been hotly debated since the interior commissioner Ylva Johansson presented it last spring.
It is the opponents who have dubbed the proposal “chat control” and accuse it of being far too supervisory.
This week, Piratpartiet’s leader Katarina Stensson commented on the Swedish stance:
“In summary, the government’s proposal for Sweden’s stance on the issue is a big disappointment, and if this becomes reality, will lead to a more dangerous digital everyday life for all of us, including the children you want to help.”
The government’s position is not set in stone, but in appendices to the agenda for the meeting on September 28, it is noted that the government “welcomes the work of the presidency with the draft regulation.”
The Spanish presidency had an ambition to bring the member states together this September. The next chance is October 19, but then it is required that more countries jump on the Spanish line.
According to the appendix, the Swedish government has a generally positive attitude towards the proposal, but at the same time writes that “several aspects of legal certainty and integrity should be given greater impact in order to achieve the right balance in the proposal”.
FACT EU’s CSAM proposal
CSAM is the abbreviation for child sexual abuse material.
In order to combat online sexual abuse, the European Commission proposed new legislation in May 2022 that makes it mandatory for online service providers to carry out risk assessments to ascertain the risk of being exploited by perpetrators.
National authorities can then order a review of the online services and order removal.
A dedicated EU centre, linked to Europol, is proposed to play a key role in helping businesses, authorities and victims alike.
The proposal is currently being processed in parallel by the member states in the Council of Ministers and the EU Parliament.
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