The Renew Europe group says it welcomes the extension of the derogation of the e-Privacy Directive to tackle child sexual abuse online.

This is the third extension and Renew MEPs refused to sign off another prolongation.

Instead, they strove to add certain conditions, “limiting technology to where it is strictly necessary.”

The scope is reduced to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that is already known, and to users identified by judicial authorities, while strictly guaranteeing that end-to-end encryption remains off limits.

LIBE-shadow MEP Irena Joveva (Gibanje Svoboda, Slovenia), said, “While tech companies now have the potential tools to make the Stasi blush, we are drawing a clear line for searching child sexual abuse online.

“We want to ensure end-to-end encryption stays locked and any potential scanning remains strictly focused on known illegal material and users. This is the best way forward: Europe can protect children from predators without eavesdropping on every citizen.”

CSAM-negotiator MEP Hilde Vautmans (Anders, Belgium) added, “This is not a matter of wanting to, but of having to.

“Without this extension, a legal gap threatened to arise and internet giants will stop detecting online child abuse, and that means no reports, no investigations, and therefore no protection for our children.

“With this extension, companies can voluntarily detect illegal material but without chat control of encrypted messages.

“Is this ideal? No, but it is because of our Member States that valuable time was lost.

“Now, we must move forward, and we will continue to insist on a permanent regulation in which we impose concrete and clear obligations on internet giants to detect online sexual abuse, with strong safeguards and without chat control.”

Meanwhile, Greens/EFA and Pirate Party MEP Markéta Gregorová, Greens/EFA shadow rapporteur for the legislation, commented, “Until now, this system represented a completely disproportionate intrusion into our privacy.

“Platforms were scanning millions of private messages of innocent citizens without any reasonable suspicion.

“Thanks to the amendment we proposed and which the European Parliament supported today, the report now clearly moves toward a targeted approach. Monitoring should only apply to the communications of suspected individuals and only with judicial authorisation. This is an important step forward for protecting Europeans’ fundamental rights.”

After the parliamentary vote, rapporteur Birgit Sippel  (S&D, Germany) said: “We have a responsibility to address the horrific crime of child sexual abuse while safeguarding everyone’s fundamental rights.

“This interim derogation, which I support, is a temporary, strictly limited instrument allowing providers to continue voluntary detection measures under specific conditions.

“At the same time, this extension must uphold end-to-end encryption.

“Reducing the scope of the extension to previously identified and hashed child sexual abuse material and material raised by flaggers is both necessary and justified for a proportionate framework that will withstand judicial scrutiny and provide sustainable protection for children.”