Joint statement on the future of the CSA Regulation

Today, as the Hungarian Presidency of the EU starts, we would like to reiterate our concerns over the proposed Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Regulation, a proposal that remains unfit to address the complex and serious problem of child sexual abuse, and yet could undermine private and secure communication for all.

For two years, Member States have been unable to agree on a common position for the CSA Regulation. It is time to withdraw the current proposal and consider a new approach for making online platforms safer for children that does not lead to generalised monitoring or breaks encryption.

On 20 June 2024, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council became the fourth country to fail to broker a deal on the controversial CSAR. This failure to reach a deal is a reflection of the fact that there is no magical solution to the serious, complex and socially-entrenched problem of child sexual abuse.

In a joint statement, EDRi and 48* digital rights, human rights and children’s rights/protection organisations demand that:

1. The Council and European Parliament should demand that the European Commission withdraw the draft CSA Regulation, and instead:
   i. Work with children’s rights groups, child protection advocates, digital human rights groups, cybersecurity experts and other technologists to develop new technical and nontechnical solutions which are lawful, targeted, and technically-feasible, where these are necessary;
   ii. Focus on the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) to ensure that illegal content is tackled swiftly and proportionately;
2. EU Member States should invest in the capacity and resources of national child protection hotlines, including raising awareness of the existence of these hotlines, and boosting their capacity to support victims and survivors;
3. EU Member States should pursue primary prevention, including investing in prevention programmes for potential offenders or re-offenders, transforming police and judicial systems to ensure that they are child-friendly, requiring criminal record checks for people working with children, increasing education and other societal measures that will be more effective in stopping abuse before it happens.

* The number of signatories has been updated to reflect the additional signature of Offlimits Hotline ( the Netherlands)