EU Parliament fast-tracks revival of expired voluntary message-scanning rules

The European Parliament has voted 331–304 to fast-track legislation that would restore the EU’s expired ‘Chat Control 1.0’ framework, using an urgency procedure that skips the normal committee review. The measure would once again let platforms like Gmail, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Snapchat, and iCloud Mail voluntarily scan private communications for child sexual abuse material. The original temporary regulation (EU 2021/1232) carved out an exemption to the ePrivacy Directive but lapsed on April 4, 2026, after Parliament rejected an extension when talks with the Council broke down. Rather than let it stay dead, the Council approved a negotiating position on July 2 for a new regulation carrying nearly identical provisions—a move critic and former MEP Patrick Breyer calls an unprecedented attempt to resurrect a law Parliament already killed.

The binding vote is set for July 9. Because of how the expedited procedure works, opponents need an absolute majority of the full chamber—361 votes—to block or amend the text; fall short, and the Council’s version proceeds without any added safeguards. That is a steep bar given the procedural vote itself passed by only 27 votes, meaning the measure could take effect largely as the Council wrote it.

This temporary track should not be confused with ‘Chat Control 2.0,’ the permanent Child Sexual Abuse Regulation stalled since 2022 after five rounds of trilogue. The core fight there is whether providers may conduct broad, suspicionless scanning—especially on end-to-end encrypted services. Parliament wants scanning limited to specifically suspected users with judicial authorization, while the Council pushes broader risk-mitigation duties that critics say amount to mass surveillance. Notably, the Council’s own Legal Service warned in June that even ‘voluntary’ generalized scanning may violate Article 7 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights absent reasonable suspicion and prior judicial sign-off.