Member States want internet service providers to do the impossible in the fight against child sexual abuse
In May 2022, the European Commission presented its proposal for a Regulation to combat child sexual abuse (CSA) online. The proposal contains a number of privacy intrusive provisions, including obligations for platforms to indiscriminately scan the private communications of all users (dubbed ”chat control”). There are also blocking obligations for internet services providers (ISPs), which is the focus of this article.
Filter resources
-
Member States want internet service providers to do the impossible in the fight against child sexual abuse
In May 2022, the European Commission presented its proposal for a Regulation to combat child sexual abuse (CSA) online. The proposal contains a number of privacy intrusive provisions, including obligations for platforms to indiscriminately scan the private communications of all users (dubbed ”chat control”). There are also blocking obligations for internet services providers (ISPs), which is the focus of this article.
Read more
-
The UK will treat online images of immigrants crossing the Channel as a criminal offence
On 17 January, the United Kingdom (UK) government announced that online platforms will have to proactively remove images of immigrants crossing the Channel in small boats under a new amendment to be tabled to the Online Safety Bill. The announcement, intended to bolster the UK’s hostile immigration policy, has been met with concern among the British public and charities working with people on the move.
Read more
-
Under surveillance: (mis)use of technologies in emergency responses
In the months following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half the world’s countries enacted emergency measures. Within this broader context, we have seen a rapid scaling up of governments’ use of technologies to enable widespread surveillance. How has this impacted civil society groups globally?
Read more
-
Update: UK’s Online Safety Bill heralds a trio of surveillance
The UK’s Online Safety Bill was back in the Westminster Parliament in December It had been stalled for five months whilst the new British government made a few changes. A Parliamentary debate on Monday (5 December 2022) revealed the shift in policy direction for the first time. It’s a relatively small change with big implications. Read more about the changes.
Read more
-
Back to the Future: Activism, the copyright Directive and lessons for the present
The Copyright Directive marked a key moment in internet history. Civil society, and EDRi in particular, have reflected on the role we played in the political debate and what would that mean for future digital policy fights. In this blogpost, we look back to assess the success of the strategies we adopted and what are the takeaways we should keep in mind when challenging current human rights threats like chat control and facial recognition.
Read more
-
Reclaim Your Face movement gathered in Brussels
Between 6 and 9 November 2022, more than 20 activists from across Europe gathered in Brussels to celebrate the successes of the Reclaim You Face movement. We got to meet each other in real life after months of online organising, reflected on our wide range off decentralised actions, and learned from each other how to couple grassroots organising with EU advocacy aimed at specific events and EU institutions. Read on to see what we did.
Read more
-
PEGA hearing: state hacking and spyware in Germany
On 14 November, EDRi observer Andre Meister from German digital rights newspaper netzpolitik.org, spoke at the PEGA committee's hearing in his capacity as an investigative journalist, covering state hacking for over a decade. Check out what he had to say to the PEGA committee responsible for investigating the use of the Pegasus spyware in Europe.
Read more
-
Mid-point EDRi strategy review: impact and adjustments in a changing field
In April 2020, during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe, EDRi adopted its first network multi-annual strategy for the years 2020-2024. At the mid-term of the strategy implementation, what have we learned?
Read more
-
Activists v. Poland. European Court of Human Rights hearing on uncontrolled surveillance
On 27 September, the hearing was held at the European Court of Human Rights, following the application against Poland lodged by activists from Poland’s Panoptykon Foundation and Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, joined by a human rights attorney.
Read more
-
Europol is going to collect a massive collection of intimate conversations from European youngsters
This story begins with the creation of a new European agency, but ends with one of the world's largest databases of private chats and images shared by European youngsters—built by the police.
Read more
-
PEGA hearing about spyware and ePrivacy
Following the public revelations of the widespread use of Pegasus and other spyware, the European Parliament formed the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA) in March 2022.
Read more
-
Chat Control – A good day for privacy
The Austrian parliament voted in its EU committee to adopt a resolution that has a binding effect on the position of the Austrian government not to agree to the proposal for the controversial child sexual abuse regulation, if it is not brought in line with fundamental rights.
Read more