The EU's shift in stance, abandoning the requirement for tech companies to scan for child sexual abuse content, is seen as a major victory by Meta and Google.
The bill now requires businesses to conduct their own risk assessments and for each country to enforce the law, but its content still needs to be negotiated with the European Parliament.

European Union (EU) member states have reached a consensus on online child protection legislation, marking a significant shift in their stance. Under the new agreement, the EU will not mandate that global technology companies proactively identify and remove content from online platforms.Child sexual abuse content (CSAM), and this move was reported by Reuters.InterpretationThis is a major victory for American tech companies such as Google and Meta.

Mandatory scanning will be cancelled, and risk assessment and self-management will be adopted instead.

The European Council's new stance differs significantly from the demands made by the European Parliament in 2023. That proposal required communication services, software marketplaces, and internet service providers to proactively report and remove CSAM content and deceptive practices.

The current proposal removes the mandatory scanning requirement. Instead, the new legislation delegates the task to large technology companies to assess the risks of their services and take any preventative measures they deem necessary. Enforcement authority is delegated to individual EU member state governments, rather than to a single EU body.

The European Council stated in a declaration: "Member States will designate national bodies to assess these risk assessments and mitigation measures, and may require suppliers to implement mitigation measures." Businesses that fail to comply may face fines.

Is encrypted communication secure? The debate continues.

Although the proposal contains no wording regarding mandatory scanning of encrypted content, and even hints at the need to safeguard encrypted services, critics have expressed concerns.

In a statementdisplay"This is a huge disappointment for everyone who cares about privacy," she said. She believes that this compromise, which allows tech entities to essentially "self-censor" content, may seem less intrusive on the surface, but could actually pave the way for a future full-scale scanning of private conversations, potentially harming encrypted platforms.

Establishment of EU Child Sexual Abuse Center

In addition, the new law also proposes the establishment of an "EU Center on Child Sexual Abuse," which will be responsible for assisting countries in compliance and providing assistance to victims.

The proposal has not yet been finalized, and the European Council must now engage in consultations and negotiations with the European Parliament.