Proposed EU Chat Control Regulation Loses Key German Support
Germany indicated it would not support the Chat Control regulation, meaning it lacks the 65% EU population support required to become law.
Written by Jackie Leavitt (Editor at Large)
Reviewed by Aleksander Hougen (Chief Editor)
Last Updated:
On Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, EU member states indicated their support or opposition on the proposed “Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse” regulation — also called “Chat Control.”
The regulation would have allowed scanning of encrypted messages to fight the spread of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Chat Control was first proposed in 2022, with member states voting it down in 2023. This new version includes using AI to scan messages for child abuse material.
Put forward by Denmark, this most recent “Chat Control” regulation would have undermined encrypted messaging by requiring chat services — including WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal — to allow AI-based message screening before encryption in the effort to detect sharing of child abuse material.
In order to pass, the regulation would have required a supporting block that represents 65% or more of the EU population. At the time of writing, 14 member states support the proposed law, nine oppose it, and four remain undecided.
Supporting Countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Sweden
Opposing Countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia
Undecided: Estonia, Greece, Romania, Slovenia
Germany became the key opposition, as its population would have tipped the majority beyond the needed 65%. Even if all four of the remaining undecided countries choose to support the law, it would only add up to roughly 59% of the total EU population, meaning they lack the required population to pass.
International Outcry
Prior to the member states indicating their support or opposition to the regulation, a worldwide outcry against it included a signed letter from 670 researchers and scientists from 36 countries that questioned the technological effectiveness of CSAM detection while warning against risk of some regimes abusing the scanning power.
“The new proposal, similar to its predecessors, will create unprecedented capabilities for surveillance, control, and censorship and has an inherent risk for function creep and abuse by less democratic regimes.”
— Joint statement of scientists and researchers on the EU Presidency’s new proposal for the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation, Sept. 9, 2025
Additionally, the German research institute Forschungszentrum Informatik (FZI) released a report (“Research Center for Information Technology”) last year explaining its opposition to the Chat Control proposal, stating that the implementation would “allow state security authorities new possibilities unintended by the legislator, such as mass surveillance” resulting in “a major infringement of the fundamental right to security and confidentiality of digital communication” for European residents “and shaking a cornerstone of our democratic community of values.”
Although the 2025 proposal seems to lack the required 65% support, the final vote of the EU Council is scheduled for October 14.