EU countries to restore interim measure on allowing Big Tech to fight online child pornography

BRUSSELS, July 23 - EU countries endorsed a proposal on Thursday to reintroduce a temporary measure allowing Google, Meta and other online platforms to detect and remove online child sexual abuse materials without breaching privacy rules.

The move by the bloc of 27 EU countries came two weeks after EU lawmakers gave the green light to the stopgap procedure which aims to buy time for both sides to find a permanent solution to combat online child sexual abuse.

The temporary measure, in place from 2021 to April this year, will now be valid until 3 April 2028.

"With the green light given, we have moved quickly to address the legal gap that existed when the derogation to the ePrivacy Regulation lapsed in April," Irish justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said in a statement.

EU countries agreed to an amendment proposed by lawmakers to exempt end-to-end encrypted communications such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal from the interim measure but said this did not imply that they would allow it in permanent rules.

The issue pits advocates of online safety measures against privacy activists worried about surveillance, which has resulted in the current impasse in efforts to enact rules despite the European Commission's draft announced in 2022. REUTERS