A website set up by a Danish software developer floods EU lawmakers with emails opposing planned EU “Chat Control” laws to fight CSAM by scanning encrypted apps
A software developer from Denmark is having an outsized influence on a hotly debated law to break open encrypted apps.
PoliticoSam Clark
Context & Ripple Effects
This campaign adds a high-volume grassroots channel to an already organized fight over mandatory message scanning. More than 40 European companies had separately opposed the proposal over fears of a backdoor mandate in an industry open letter against mandatory scanning.
The dispute has continued to reshape the proposal rather than settle it: Denmark later backed withdrawal of the mandatory-scanning plan, while a subsequent parliamentary push advanced scanning legislation with an exemption for end-to-end encrypted services.
First-order effects
EU lawmakers and their staff must absorb and triage a larger volume of constituent-style opposition to the planned scanning rules.
The Danish developer gives encryption and privacy opponents a practical mechanism to coordinate outreach, increasing the visibility of their objections in the legislative process.
Second-order effects
The email campaign reinforces pressure already coming from messaging providers and European businesses, making it harder for proponents to portray opposition as limited to a small set of platforms or advocates.
It sharpens the policy contest between privacy-focused services and interests backing detection technology, which had previously been linked to lobbying around the proposal in an investigation of CSAM-scanning advocacy.
Third-order effects
If mass participation remains a recurring feature of the debate, EU CSAM rules may increasingly hinge on whether encrypted services receive distinct treatment rather than on a single scanning mandate for all services.
The later move toward voluntary scanning and an encryption exemption indicates a durable policy split: child-safety enforcement goals are being negotiated against the operational and trust costs of weakening private communications.
The trend: EU online-safety policymaking is moving toward narrower, contested scanning obligations as encryption providers, commercial interests, and digitally organized citizens compete to define the limits of CSAM enforcement.
📣 Germany is close to reversing its principled opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private —& Signal—in the EU. Time is short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU's Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. https://signal.org/...
Now, after Germany effectively blocked Chat Control, Eglė Markevičiūtė, EU Affairs Manager at Consumer Choice Center Europe, a consumer advocacy group, told Cybernews she was grateful to the European privacy and tech community. “It has carried out a thorough, targeted campaign
The Revival of Chat Control in the EU CSAM proposal: A Dangerous Measure! First proposed in 2022 as “Chat Control,” the provision has been slammed as one of the most criticized EU proposals ever. Denmark's push to revive this measure is extremely concerning. But what is more
Great news and big win for privacy in the EU! 🇪🇺🇩🇪 Germany's ruling CDU/CSU party made it clear today: there will be no chat control - as pushed for by other EU countries - with this German government.
With Germany opposing, there is no majority of EU member states in the Council in favor of the chat control proposal. The vote will thus likely be canceled. Still concerning to see how many EU countries support it. [image]
EU “Chat Control” is a threat to our privacy. I encourage everyone to fight against it. Please help spread this message by retweeting and liking it. Read more here, then take action: https://fightchatcontrol.eu/
EU #ChatControl threatens to implement automated scanning of all private online communications. We want a future without mass surveillance and with the right to our privacy! A backdoor for governments is a backdoor for everybody! We call on @bmjv_bund to hold the line! [image]
The EU wants to know what you do when nobody's watching. What chat control means: ❌ Breaks encryption: Weakens security ❌ Mass surveillance: Scans everyone's messages ❌ Government abuse: Risk of applying to minor suspicions 👉 https://fightchatcontrol.eu/ #StopChatControl [image]
We did it: 🇩🇪Germany will OPPOSE Chat Control! 🥳 Thanks everyone for writing to the ministers. 🫶 #ChatControl will not get a majority in the EU Council - at least for now. [image]
The EU Chat Control proposal would be a catastrophe for Europe. It would seal Europeans behind a new digital Berlin wall, cut off from Signal and other e2e messengers. It's embarrassing and dangerous that it's gotten this close already. Time to bail to back to sanity.
All politicians who support #chatcontrol should be immediately fired and put on a #blacklist to never be able to have any job with responsibility over people. I have left EU already, but will fully leave continental Europe as well, in case this law passes. https://fightchatcontro…
The EU is once again trying to push a dangerous legislative proposal that undermines encrypted communication and obliterates our rights to private conversations. https://www.eff.org/...
Germany will not support Chat Control - a law which proposes to scan all messages people send even on end-to-end encrypted platforms - Justice Minister said today. German stance likely dooms the measure. Signal had threatened to leave the EU if Chat Control became law — there…
CryptPad, Element, Tuta, and 40 other EU tech companies have signed an open letter against the EU's Chat Control proposal — https://blog.cryptpad.org/... https://element.io/... https://tuta.com/...