In the next months (date to be defined), the European Union (EU) will vote on "Chat Control 2.0". Behind the fight against child abuse lies the establishment of a mass surveillance system that would completely eliminate the privacy of all European citizens. If this proposal were to be approved, every European citizen's online activity would be automatically scanned and categorized by Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms.

What can we do to prevent this proposal from being approved? As European citizens, we can contact our respective country's member of the European Parliament via the "Fight Chat Control" page. In this article, we explore what "Chat Control 2.0" is, its implications, and what European citizens can do to prevent its approval.

What is Chat Control 2.0?

First of all, the actual title of this proposal is: "Child Sexual Abuse Regulation". As the full title suggests, the purpose of this proposal is very noble: to combat child abuse. However, the proposed technological solution is completely inappropriate and would lead to the establishment of a mass surveillance system that would completely eliminate the privacy of all European citizens.

According to this proposal, every European citizen's online activity should be automatically scanned and categorized by Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms. But shouldn't end-to-end encryption (E2EE), like the one used by WhatsApp and Telegram, make it impossible to intercept a message?

First, what is end-to-end encryption? Before a message is sent over the internet, it is encrypted so that only the recipient can decrypt it, and therefore read the original message. Therefore, even service providers (SPs), like WhatsApp or Telegram, cannot read the sent message. This is a fundamental pillar of privacy.

The Chat Control 2.0 proposal requires that, before sending a message, its "hash" be calculated. In short, hashing is a cryptographic process that transforms an input (such as a password or message) into a fixed-length string called "hash". Once the hash of your message has been calculated, it is compared on specialized servers. Specifically, if the hash of your message matches one of the pre-stored hashes in this database containing messages, photos, and videos related to child pornography, an alert is sent. It would also be possible to request the message in clear text and trace the sender.

What would happen if one of these systems were hacked? All user data would be accessible to anyone who compromised the central monitoring platform.

Implications of Chat Control 2.0

Below are the implications if the Chat Control 2.0 proposal were to be approved:

• Mass Surveillance: Every private message, photo, and file scanned automatically: no suspicion required, no exceptions*, even encrypted communications.
• Breaking Encryption: Weakening or breaking end-to-end encryption exposes everyone's communications - including sensitive financial, medical, and private data - to hackers, criminals, and hostile actors.
• Fundamental Rights: Undermines your fundamental rights to privacy and data protection, as guaranteed by Articles 7 and 8 of the EU Charter - rights considered core to European democratic values.
• False Positives: Automated scanners routinely misidentify innocent content, such as vacation photos or private jokes, as illegal, putting ordinary people at risk of false accusations and damaging investigations.
• Ineffective Child Protection: Child protection experts and organizations, including the UN, warn that mass surveillance fails to prevent abuse and actually makes children less safe - by weakening security for everyone and diverting resources from proven protective measures.
• Global Precedent: Creates a dangerous global precedent enabling authoritarian governments, citing EU policy, to roll out intrusive surveillance at home, undermining privacy and free expression worldwide.

*EU politicians exempt themselves from this surveillance under "professional secrecy" rules. They get privacy. You and your family do not.

Why Chat Control 2.0 and not 1.0?

Actually, Chat Control already exists! Currently, service providers voluntarily scan user communications. Services like Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, and iCloud already do this. If the Chat Control 2.0 proposal were to be approved, all service providers, even those outside the European Union, would be required to perform these mandatory and indiscriminate checks for all users of the platform. Even privacy-focused companies like Telegram and Signal would paradoxically be forced to violate our privacy. These scans would also affect personal data that isn't shared, such as data on iCloud.

What can we do?

As European citizens, we can contact our respective country's member of the European Parliament (MEP) in our respective countries via the website fightchatcontrol.eu:


Scroll down until you reach the part where you can select the Country of the MEPs and choose a Country (e.g., Italy):

Scroll down again to the following screen where you can select what concerns you most about Chat Control 2.0:

Make your selection and click "Next." In the next section, you can review the automatically filled email. Edit the "[Your Name and address]" field. Once you're done, click "Review and Send":

On the final screen, first select the country of your representatives. Finally, you can either automatically send the email by clicking "Send Email" or manually copy the message and destination email addresses and then send the email:

Please note: If you want to send the email manually ("Copy Message" and "Copy email addresses"), the email subject can be found by clicking "Send Email".

Conclusion

While the goal of Chat Control 2.0 is noble, the technological solution it would adopt is completely inappropriate. If this proposal were to be approved, a system of mass surveillance would be established that would completely eliminate the privacy of all European citizens.

We, as European citizens, cannot refrain from trying to block Chat Control 2.0. Therefore, we ask you to email the members of the European Parliament and share this article as widely as possible before it's too late. Don't be indifferent, don't be complicit of this dystopian revolution.