Press Release: The EU Child Sexual Abuse Regulation: LIBE Committee Takes Step in Right Direction

(BRUSSELS) — The European Parliament’s LIBE committee vote in favour of introducing important rights-protecting safeguards to the proposed law on child sexual abuse has been cautiously welcomed by the Centre for Democracy & Technology, Europe (CDT Europe).

CDT Europe has been critical of the European Commission’s original draft of the law due to its failure to factor in safeguards for the most vulnerable children, its over-reliance on unreliable technologies, its threat to break end-to-end encryption, and its undermining of the right to presumption of innocence.

The LIBE committee position does much to address these concerns, but some points will still need to be addressed before the final negotiations are concluded. 

CDT Europe’s Secretary General Iverna McGowan said:

“With today’s vote, the Committee has chosen to reject the notion that mass surveillance is either necessary or is an effective way to protect children from abuse. They have recognised correctly that the right to communicate securely is a keystone of our democracies that can only be interfered with in cases of actual suspicion of wrongdoing, and subject to judicial oversight.”