Germany will not support 'Chat Control' message scanning in the EU

German officials on Wednesday said they will vote against a European Union proposal to allow the scanning of private messages even on end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms, signaling that the bloc will not have the votes to move forward with a controversial measure known as Chat Control.

“Random chat monitoring must be taboo in a constitutional state,” German Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said in translated remarks posted to social media by the ministry. “Private communication must never be placed under general suspicion.”

"Germany will not agree to such proposals at the EU level," she added.

Chat Control, which has been pushed by Denmark and embraced by several other EU countries, is meant to protect children by helping law enforcement better detect abusive material. Hubig said she is committed to battling child pornography but added that “even the worst crimes do not justify surrendering basic civil rights." 

Hubig’s remarks follow days of speculation about how Germany will vote on October 14 when the bloc takes up the measure. 

The president of the Signal Foundation on Friday said the end-to-end encrypted messaging app will not stay in the EU market if Chat Control becomes law.

“Under the guise of protecting children, the latest Chat Control proposals would require mass scanning of every message, photo, and video on a person’s device, assessing these via a government-mandated database or AI model to determine whether they are permissible content or not,” the foundation’s president, Meredith Whittaker, said.

“What they propose is in effect a mass surveillance free-for-all, opening up everyone’s intimate and confidential communications, whether government officials, military, investigative journalists, or activists,” she added.