Current Events > The EU is trying to push ahead with mandatory internet scanning

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/sign-petition-and-tell-eu-legislators-dont-scan-us

If this eventually passes, the government will essentially require everything you do or say online to be scanned proactively for illegal content, in the name of tackling child abuse. Of course, the government and police won't be limited to using all the collected data for those purposes. The EU Commission refused to meet with any detractors of the legislation, and hasn't addressed any of the flaws (like flooding the police with huge numbers of false positives because automatic scanning tools don't work well), criticisms, or serious dangers (like vulnerable people having no privacy or how this will affect the internet worldwide).

Attempts at passing this kind of legislation has happened before and been defeated, but this is the most brazen and dangerous one yet. If you live in the EU, please contact your representatives. If not, please be aware yourself and spread the word if you can.

This older article from the EFF has more details if you want them:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/10/eu-lawmakers-must-reject-proposal-scan-private-chats

Will they be using the same method as gamefaqs does for tracking shared accounts so that if I log in at my school's internet they assume everyone else who does so is me?

How Orwellian of them.

US already does this, we just lie about it.

Russia is committing war crimes right next to them and this is what they're spending their time focusing on. Unfortunately, even progressive countries love to act like conservatives when it fits them.

darkmaian23 posted...

f you live in the EU, please contact your representatives.

Tag so I remember

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Not if concerned citizens and civil liberties groups (and the technical advisers that politicians like to ignore) all do their part. I realize that we probably don't get a lot of posters from the EU here, but I'm trying to do my part to spread awareness. I hope others do the same!

But tiktok

1984

Flauros posted...

1984

RIP internet 1984- 2023

It's the end of any sort of user-generated content, basically.
No website or app operator is going to want to deal with the compliance issues, yet EU is too big a market to tell it to fuck off.

Questionmarktarius posted...

It's the end of any sort of user-generated content, basically.
No website or app operator is going to want to deal with the compliance issues, yet EU is too big a market to tell it to fuck off.

A lot of people make content for free

I think this is fine.

sometimes I wonder why the usa has all the tech startups and europe has essentially none and then I realize basically all the EU tech related legislation is the dumbest thing ever

Turtlebread posted...

I think this is fine.

Why on Earth would you think this is fine?

Between this and America's revoke act potentialy throwing people in to jail for 20 years for merely using a VPN, its the beginning of the end for Internet freedom. It doesn't matter where you go, the government will always be watching and recording you.

Tons of teens gonna get arrested for their own nudes on the cloud

Swedish government aupport this shit appernently.

FF_Redux posted...

Swedish government aupport this shit appernently.

Are you from the EU? While I've been following the news as closely as I can, there is a lot that isn't clear to me as an American. I was under the impression that Germany and some other countries were a strong no on this, and that that fact would likely torpedo the chances of this ever passing. Is that not true?

darkmaian23 posted...

Are you from the EU? While I've been following the news as closely as I can, there is a lot that isn't clear to me as an American. I was under the impression that Germany and some other countries were a strong no on this, and that that fact would likely torpedo the chances of this ever passing. Is that not true?

Yes Sweden is in EU.

Its weird tho, major newspapers are silent about this. Only seen a small notice on my local paper about it.

FF_Redux posted...

Yes Sweden is in EU.

lol, I knew that, I just didn't know if you were from there versus just having read about it.

FF_Redux posted...

Its weird tho, major newspapers are silent about this. Only seen a small notice on my local paper about it.

Could it be that it's still fairly early on in the process or not likely to pass, or is there some kind of pressure to pass it quietly? I don't understand the EU political process, and my only source for news on this stuff is civil rights and tech news sites and that one EU politician who crusades against this (guy has a timeline on his page, but I don't understand how laws get passed in the EU so it tells me basically nothing).

There haven't been many posts about chat control on the r/Europe, either. I've tried to do my part by posting there when new articles come out, but my posts are always deleted by the moderators after a few minutes with no reason given. My requests for clarification are never responded to, either and I'm quite sure I follow the rules. I'd hazard a guess other folks have tried, too. I find this disturbing because this legislation might be the dumbest and most evil internet legislation yet proposed, and nobody is talking about it (or being allowed to talk about it?).