2023-10-26 12:38:51
The European Parliament will present an amended bill on Thursday to tackle online child abuse. The law has been hotly debated for years. Parties were at odds with each other about whether a tough approach or prevention would work best.
During the negotiations on the bill, two camps could be distinguished. One camp wants to detect online child abuse by, for example, scanning WhatsApp messages and emails. The other camp sees more benefit in prevention.
The bill presented on Thursday is a good compromise, Dutch MEP Paul Tang tells NU.nl. Tang was the only Dutch person at the negotiating table recently.
According to him, the proposal focuses mainly on prevention and safety. The law tackles online child abuse in several ways. For example, large internet companies and providers of digital services, such as games and social networks, must check the age of users and adapt their security accordingly.
In addition, by law companies must make the design of their websites, games and other services safe for children. They can do this, for example, by hiding the age or date of birth of users in a profile. This prevents malicious parties from specifically searching for young victims.
Button to report digital child molesters
A third part of the law is a so-called report button. This must be present in all digital services that children use. This includes, for example, chat programs, social media and games.
This report button should look the same everywhere. This makes the button easily recognizable on TikTok, for example, but also in chat rooms in games. The button must allow both children and adults to digitally report child grooming (also known as grooming).
But these preventive measures cannot prevent images of child abuse from being spread online. Internet companies are therefore obliged to take active action against the spread of such images.
If internet companies refuse, Brussels can impose a fine of one to 5 percent of annual turnover. That’s quite significant when you consider that Facebook parent company Meta has an annual turnover of around 110 billion euros.
Police could force Telegram to remove a group
Images of child abuse are often shared in Telegram groups. Thanks to the law, the police can in that case oblige Telegram to remove the groups and material.
During the negotiations it was suggested that internet companies should be required to scan all internet traffic for images of child abuse. But that means that everyone’s internet traffic is monitored, including that of innocent citizens and even children.
Only a judge can issue a targeted detection order
To protect the privacy of innocent people, the bill includes a very targeted detection order. This means that an internet provider can be obliged to scan the internet traffic of a person or group that is guilty of distributing child pornography.
Such a detection warrant can only be issued by a judge. This is comparable to, for example, a search warrant if someone is suspected of a crime.
Brussels previously wanted to oblige providers of encrypted messaging services, such as WhatsApp and Signal, to create a backdoor. But that idea has been scrapped. This weakens the security of the chat service, which actually increases the chance that sensitive material will end up in the wrong hands.
Varying responses from experts
“At first glance, the adjustments to the bill appear to meet the objections regarding the privacy of users,” says Arda Gerkens of the Online Terrorist and Child Pornographic Material Authority. “This strengthens the rights of the child in the proposal.”
The flag is not yet raised at privacy organization Bits of Freedom. Certain companies that sell technology to detect child abuse have been lobbying for the law for years, according to spokesperson Rejo Zenger.
“Any step forward with this proposal is inherently bad, because the proposal is tainted,” Zenger said. In addition, according to him, there are doubts about the legal tenability and technical feasibility of the law.
The law must enter into force in the summer of 2024
It will take at least the summer of 2024 before the law comes into effect. First, all EU member states must approve the proposal.
The European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union will then negotiate about it behind closed doors. The final legal text will be determined during that negotiation.
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