European Parliament supports narrower ePrivacy derogation for detecting child sexual abuse
The European Parliament has amended a proposed privacy exemption for voluntary online child sexual abuse detection, excluding communications protected by end-to-end encryption.
The European Parliament adopted amendments on 9 July 2026 to a proposed derogation from EU ePrivacy rules for detecting child sexual abuse online.
The measure would allow electronic communication services to voluntarily detect, remove and report child sexual abuse material and the solicitation of children in private communications.
MEPs voted to exclude communications protected, or intended to be protected, by end-to-end encryption from the scope of the derogation.
Because the proposal was considered at Parliament’s second reading, at least 360 votes were required to reject or amend the Council’s position. A proposal to reject it received 314 votes in favour, 276 against and 17 abstentions, which was insufficient. Parliament subsequently completed its second reading with the amended text.
The proposal will now return to the Council, which has three months to accept or reject Parliament’s amendments. If the Council does not accept them all, the institutions will enter conciliation negotiations.
The temporary derogation previously expired on 3 April 2026 after Parliament and the Council failed to agree on an extension. Negotiations on permanent EU legislation to combat child sexual abuse online remain ongoing.
