{"id":333052,"date":"2025-09-11T11:29:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcloud.com\/?p=333052"},"modified":"2025-10-14T11:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T09:06:58","slug":"how-the-eu-chat-control-law-is-a-threat-to-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcloud.com\/it\/blog\/how-the-eu-chat-control-law-is-a-threat-to-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"The proposed EU Chat Control law is a threat to our democracy. What can you do to prevent it?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Update <\/strong><\/p>\n

The planned vote on October 14 will not go ahead as Germany decided not to back the Danish law proposal. This decision leaves nine EU member states opposing the bill, twelve in favor, and six still undecided.<\/p>\n

While the vote has now been postponed, the fight isn’t over yet. The next discussion about the proposal might take place on December 6 or 7 as EU interior ministers meet again.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\n\n\n

\"Featured<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With the EU law proposal \u201cRegulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse\u201d \u2014 more commonly know as the EU Chat Control Law \u2014 our democracy is threatened from the inside: by our own governments. Citing child protection as the reason, the EU wants to backdoor end-to-end encryption<\/a>, so they can access and read any message, including photos and videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the so-called Chat Control law, the EU would oblige all email and messenger providers to analyze content before it gets encrypted on the phone of the sender, using AI to detect child sexual abuse material (CSAM). If content is flagged, the providers must report it to the authorities for further investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we get here, what does it mean for you, and what can you do to prevent it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nextcloud<\/figure>
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What is end-to-end encryption? A quick recap<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With end-to-end encryption (E2EE), no one but the sender and receiver can access a message, including attachments such as photos and videos. To achieve this, the message gets scrambled into an illegible code on the sender\u2019s phone. Only the receiver has the unique key stored on their device that lets it automatically decrypt the message to read it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is the issue with the proposed EU Chat Control Law?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one of the rare cases that we agree with Big Tech, albeit for different reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big Tech firms are likely to support end-to-end encryption because moderating messages would be extremely expensive. With E2EE, they can easily claim that moderation isn\u2019t possible, saving time and costs. At Nextcloud, we have been a long-term supporter of E2EE \u2014 not for financial reasons, but because we believe in privacy and want to keep the web free.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governments, however, often have stronger incentives to want to break encryption. That\u2019s why they have repeatedly tried to push for laws granting more insight into their populations\u2019 messaging. In 2019, we already reported a German plan to force decryption of chat<\/a>. More recently there was the attempt by the UK government, blocked by Apple<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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An ironic twist to the law proposal: How the EU doesn’t want to play by its own rules<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s important to add here that the EU government isn\u2019t too keen on transparency. The EC President Ursula von der Leyen uses disappearing messages in Signal<\/a>. By doing so, she ensures that her messages are not only encrypted, but also automatically deleted \u201cto prevent possible major data leaks\u201d.<\/p>\n

When it comes to EU citizens and companies, the Commission doesn\u2019t seem to share these same concerns for data breaches. There has even been talk they want to exclude themselves from their own Chat Control law<\/a>, which seems to prove that they don’t trust the proposal themselves.<\/p>\n

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The Chat Control law propoes to use local decryption of messaging, making it a novel approach in reading encrypted messages. But the effects are the same: it gives governments a backdoor to your messages. And once that door is open, your online safety can quickly spiral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the reasoning for the Chat Control law seems noble, the effects are far-reaching. Just think of governments spying on the opposition under the guise of \u201cterrorism prevention\u201d. This possible cascade of surveillance makes the Chat Control law one of the biggest threats to our digital life in the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the EU Chat Control law mean for you?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The EU Chat Control Law states that all e-mail and messenger providers must gain access to your messages and scan them. This includes providers such as WhatsApp, Signal, Proton Mail, and many more apps. The scanning would apply to all EU citizens, except EU politicians. They might exempt themselves from the law<\/a> under “professional secrecy” rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Big Tech, our model doesn\u2019t depend on hosting or mining your data. As Nextcloud has no access to your data \u2014 and also doesn\u2019t store or run it \u2014 we can\u2019t give governments access to your information. If they want to see information you have privately hosted, they will have to deal with you directly. Most Enterprise customers also have this covered in their contract. We don\u2019t plan to make changes to our software and, as we don\u2019t host anything, we also cannot be contacted to release any information.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Does it actually protect children? What experts say<\/h3>\n

Child protection organizations have weighed in, and the reactions are mixed. Many of them are not convinced by the Chat Control law<\/a>. They fear that mass surveillance might not be the most effective tool, while also noting the risk of false positives overwhelming their resources.<\/p>\n

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What can you do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As awareness about the EU Chat Control Law and the possible impact on citizens\u2019 lives grows, so do the initiatives, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n