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European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

politico.eu

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Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#31

Post by deltoidmaximus »

eska wrote: post #28
ChaosOp wrote: post #23

To clarify for fellow readers, since this is a messy situation: This is about a new temporary measure to legally allow instant-messaging providers to scan their users' messages. Providers lost that legal right when the previous interim act (the Interim Derogation of the ePrivacy Directive, sometimes called "Chat Control 1.0") expired on 4 April 2026. Several large providers have said they'll keep scanning regardless.…

As both a lawyer and a software engineer, I don't understand why big tech and EC want to scan messages, if they actually want to combat online abuse. They don’t want to combat child abuse, they want to improve their advertising fingerprints.

I'd say this is more about being able to identify and crush any nascent political movements that threaten the status quo in their infancy, but no reason not to let the implementers wet their beak to get buy in.

Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#32

Post by deltoidmaximus »

miohtama wrote: post #7

Guess who is funding and lobbying this? Robert Metsola met Ashton Kutcher (co-founder of Thorn, which develops message scanning tech) in March 2023 and posted a photo on Instagram. Kutcher lobbied MEPs hard in favour of strong detection measures.

Ashton Kutcher wrote a letter of support for Danny Masterson and his character when Masterson was convicted of multiple counts of rape. When this showed up in the media his defense was he thought this letter would be private even though it was sent to the judge in a criminal trial. Apparently, he and his friends should be able to use their fame/connections to quietly help their rapist friends get reduced sentences but everyone else should have their private communications scanned.

Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#33

Post by goobatrooba »

The title is incorrect and editorialised, Metsola is the president of the parliament, not the commission.

A conservative from a highly Catholic country (Malta), pushing conservative/far right values. Not surprising but still disappointing, that's what happens when the populace thinks voting far right is a "protest vote" and the election hands them 1/3 of the assembly.

Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#34

Post by Saline9515 »

ChaosOp wrote: post #23

To clarify for fellow readers, since this is a messy situation: This is about a new temporary measure to legally allow instant-messaging providers to scan their users' messages. Providers lost that legal right when the previous interim act (the Interim Derogation of the ePrivacy Directive, sometimes called "Chat Control 1.0") expired on 4 April 2026. Several large providers have said they'll keep scanning regardless.…

Given the insistance to pass this and the will of EU enforcement agencies to be able to monitor all communications in a Stasi-like manner, there is a large chance that the EC is applying the "salami technique" here.

First, install a monitoring system "for the kids", then you can expand for surveillance, and repression of incorrect political thought. Just like what China and Russia are doing, which has started the same.

Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#35

Post by mghackerlady »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #12
schmorptron wrote: post #8

We're moving towards total surveillance slowly but surely. Age verification. Chat control. To an extent also the digital euro. It all seems hopeless, they're pushing this through despite what semblance of a democratic process we have clearly being against it. [that is not to speak of how undemocratic the european system is and how badly it needs reform. Von der leyen should never have been able to get the role she ho…

> We're moving towards total surveillance slowly but surely We're actually speedrunning towards total surveillance. I don't believe in democracy at all anymore.

Once again, democratic centralism proves superior

Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#36

Post by surgical_fire »

eska wrote: post #28
ChaosOp wrote: post #23

To clarify for fellow readers, since this is a messy situation: This is about a new temporary measure to legally allow instant-messaging providers to scan their users' messages. Providers lost that legal right when the previous interim act (the Interim Derogation of the ePrivacy Directive, sometimes called "Chat Control 1.0") expired on 4 April 2026. Several large providers have said they'll keep scanning regardless.…

As both a lawyer and a software engineer, I don't understand why big tech and EC want to scan messages, if they actually want to combat online abuse. They don’t want to combat child abuse, they want to improve their advertising fingerprints.

This is actually the correct answer.

I don't think the concern here is scanning messages for "incorrect political thought", when people willingly yell their shitty opinions through Twitter/Reddit for maximum exposure. It's not like people are discreet with this shit.

What huge tech companies and the comissioners they lobby with actually want is more avenues of data collection, particularly people that they can't reach as easily.

The ad money gotta flow.

Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#37

Post by surgical_fire »

deltoidmaximus wrote: post #31
eska wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As both a lawyer and a software engineer, I don't understand why big tech and EC want to scan messages, if they actually want to combat online abuse. They don’t want to combat child abuse, they want to improve their advertising fingerprints.

I'd say this is more about being able to identify and crush any nascent political movements that threaten the status quo in their infancy, but no reason not to let the implementers wet their beak to get buy in.

This is bullshit. No "nascent political movement" spread with user-to-user end-to-end encrypted messages. People spread their shitty opinions as loudly as they can on public platforms. Those already scanned.

Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#38

Post by account42 »

microtonal wrote: post #14
iLoveOncall wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We're moving towards total surveillance slowly but surely We're actually speedrunning towards total surveillance. I don't believe in democracy at all anymore.

Non-democracies speedrun towards surveillance even faster. Democracy is the best we have and this action is anti-democratic. The other part of the story is that as long as Europe continues to vote radical rights + conservatives, we are going to get more and more of this. Most greens and progressives fight this tooth and nail.

The radical right isn't running the EU. Look into a mirror before it's too late.

Re: European Commission's Metsola Overrides MEPs to Force Through Chat Control

#39

Post by account42 »

khurs wrote: post #15

This is one of the main reasons UK left EU. National politicians use the EU to bypass national democracy and then blame the EU publicly to deflect of their true involvement. Uk was a leading EU country via being one of the largest financial contributors, and UK was behind many of the decisions they later blamed on 'EU Bureaucrats'.

Completely right, the UK left the EU because the EU wasn't moving fast enough to their desired dystopia. They have now managed to sprint quite a bit ahead on their own.
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