Experts urge Dutch gov't to reject EU plan to scan citizens' messages for child porn
Tech experts and parliamentarians are urging the Dutch government to reject European plans to scan citizens’ messaging traffic for images of child pornography. Next week, the European Ministers of Justice will discuss a new proposal that will oblige messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal to install screening software. It looks like the Dutch government may support the plan, NOS reports.
Up until now, the Netherlands has been part of a blocking minority in the EU against the plan, saying the privacy invasion is too great. But now that Hungary, which holds the EU presidency, made a proposal, the Dutch government is considering it.
The Hungarian proposal states that messaging services must install software that screens messaging traffic for existing, known images of child pornography and report any that are found. Experts urge caution, arguing that the software is still in development and that it involves billions of messages - even a small margin of error will result in many people being wrongly accused of a serious crime.
“We want to tackle child sex abuse. At the same time, we do not want fundamental rights to be violated,” Justice Minister David van Weel said after the Council of Ministers on Friday. “How do you do that with encrypted messaging services? That is not an easy discussion.”
The government is meeting about the topic again today, and Van Weel expects a decision to be made. “Time pressure always helps, and we have to take a position on Wednesday,” he told the broadcaster.
Opponents, including parliamentarians from GroenLinks-PvdA, D66, and SP, anti-abuse organization Offlimits, and various cyber security companies, urged the government not to accept the proposal. “The proposal pours suspicion on all Europeans and builds a backdoor to be able to read along in private conversations,” the letter stated. “In the physical world, you don’t tear open someone else’s mail without suspicion.”
According to the letter writers, the European proposal won’t be effective. It will generate many reports that will end up in an ignored pile because the police already have too few people for their existing duties. “If we really want to help children who are being abused, make sure the vice police gets more people and that the hosting companies that put child pornography online are caught.”
If the Hungarian proposal receives enough support from the Justice Ministers next week, it will go to the European Parliament for debate.
