EU Parliament Moves to Exclude Encrypted Messages From Child Abuse Detection Rules

July 10, 2026
By Mintesinot Nigussie

The European Parliament has adopted amendments to a proposed privacy exemption that would allow electronic communication providers to voluntarily detect child sexual abuse material online, excluding end-to-end encrypted communications from the scope of the measure.

The amendments were approved on Thursday during the Parliament’s second reading of the proposal, which seeks to temporarily extend rules allowing service providers to detect and report child sexual abuse content on their platforms.

Under the amended position, communications protected by end-to-end encryption, whether currently applied or planned for future use, would not be subject to detection measures.

The Parliament’s position will now return to the Council of the European Union, which has three months to approve or reject the amendments. If the Council does not accept all changes, the two institutions will enter a conciliation process to reach a compromise.

The Council’s previous position would have restored a temporary exemption from ePrivacy rules, allowing providers to voluntarily detect child sexual abuse material and child solicitation in private communications and report such content to authorities.

The debate follows the expiry of the previous interim legal framework on April 3, 2026, after Parliament rejected a European Commission proposal to extend the exemption and concluded its first reading.

The temporary measure was intended to prevent a legal gap while negotiations continue on a permanent EU framework to combat child sexual abuse online. Most elements of the permanent legislation have been agreed, although some issues remain under discussion.

In parallel, EU lawmakers and member states have also agreed on updating a directive aimed at strengthening measures against child sexual abuse.

Source: FSX Business News