EU negotiators fail to extend voluntary online chat monitoring rules, creating a legal gap in the fight against child sexual abuse material from April 3.

BRUSSELS: The European Union has failed to agree on extending temporary rules that allow major tech platforms to voluntarily monitor private online communications for child sexual abuse material.

Negotiators from EU member states and the European Parliament could not reach a compromise, a spokeswoman for the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU said.

She warned the deadlock leaves a legislative gap as the current “chat monitoring” regulation expires on April 3.

“Today’s development creates a vacuum which, despite our efforts, will have repercussions on the ability to save victims of this horrendous crime and to bring perpetrators to justice,” she said.

The temporary exemption from EU data protection rules has allowed services like WhatsApp, Instagram, and LinkedIn to scan message histories.

Companies including Google and Microsoft also use the regulation to detect and report abusive images and videos.

The EU seeks a long-term legal framework for better online child protection.

The European Commission had proposed extending the temporary exemption to buy time for negotiations.

In 2022, the commission originally proposed making such monitoring mandatory for platforms, a plan that met resistance from Germany.

That proposal would have automatically scanned chats to detect abusive material and report it to authorities.

EU member states instead supported making the current voluntary system permanent, with a review after three years.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament last week backed extending the rules only until August 3, 2027.

Their proposal aimed to limit monitoring to users identified as suspects by judicial authorities.

It also wanted the system to focus on material already flagged by law enforcement agencies.

Negotiators ultimately failed to bridge these differences between the two sides.

(Bernama-dpa)

 The Sun Malaysia