About Chat Control

September 25, 2025

TL;DR: The EU is flirting (again) with authoritarian practices. This time it's "Chat Control" (CSAR): mass scanning of private messages, including on end-to-end encrypted apps, via client-side scanning. That breaks encryption for everyone, nukes digital privacy, and completely destroys investment and innovation.

As always, politicians, ministries, and the well-connected aren’t aren’t affected. And they're dressing it all up in the "protect the children" cloak.

Want to fight against it? Use this: fightchatcontrol.eu/#contact-tool

I've been hearing about the CSAR proposal for a while now, and I've been meaning to write about it. But everyone has already covered it, and I'm not even sure what to add to the conversation, so I guess I'm doing it for the sake of public awareness.

Such a champion of the people, aren't I?

Honestly, that dreadful proposal goes against everything I believe in. It assumes people should be treated like incompetent children that need to have each of their choices and actions micromanaged by the government.

Basically daycare for adults but somehow with even more supervision.

It also treats citizens like suspects and developers like janitors for state surveillance.

What is Chat Control?

CSAR/Chat Control is a push to force providers to scan private communications to detect CSAM.

Denmark necromanced it for 2025; Council votes/discussions are slated around mid-October.

It essentially works by hashing all the content that is being sent and comparing it to a database of known CSAM. That defeats end-to-end encryption, by design.

Despite years of backlash (Apple killed its own CSAM scanning plan after experts said it would be abused), the EU Council keeps trying to resurrect it.

For a clear breakdown, here's Louis Rossmann explaining what Chat Control is (far better than I ever could):

As a sidenote, I really enjoy Louis Rossmann's videos. If you live under a rock and never heard of him, definitely check out his channel.

He's a champion of right to repair, gives great life advice, explains how companies screw you over, and so much more.

Is this really who we want to copy?

Authoritarian regimes have been doing this "scan everything by default" thing for a while:

Russia (Yarovaya laws): data retention + decryption/on-demand access.
China (Cybersecurity/National Intelligence laws): localization, spot-checks, compelled access, "cyber-sovereignty."

I really don't want to live in a world where these oppressive regimes are a source of inspiration for the EU.

The UN has already warned how surveillance infrastructures erode fundamental rights.

Won't somebody think of the children?!

This is the card they pull every single time they decide to trample on our rights: "We're saving kids here, don't you care about them? What are you? A monster? A sick abuser?"

And it's very effective for the brainwashed masses - "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear".

It's basically moral blackmail. Quite literally peer-pressuring you into accepting their insane premise.

They did it before, too - remember the web-wide SOPA/ACTA protests? The same lazy conflation: oppose bad law = you support abuse. ( wOuLD yOU dOwNLoAD a CAR? - yes Mr. Bossman, I definitely would)

And to make it worse, this runs head-first into GDPR principles: data minimization, purpose limitation, privacy by design, proportionality - all tossed in the trash. But I guess consistency is too much to ask from our braindead legislators.

If you disagree and think we should really implement this, let's speedrun it. I've included a form, just for you, where you can graciously donate all your passwords. Kindly donate your credentials below so we can "protect" you better.

Where's the European innovation?

Mandate on-device spyware and you’ll see:

Startups geo-fence or leave
VCs avoid regulatory minefields
Users flee to forks/underground clients

So, worse security, weaker ecosystems, less trust.

Is this "European innovation" in the room with us
now?

I don't know what else to tell you, but if you wanna kill any ounce of innovation in Europe, well, this is it - by far the best way to do it.

A braindead solution in search of a non-existent problem

If you actually care about protecting kids, you're supposed to make an effort:

Targeted, court-authorized investigations (not blanket scanning)
Properly fund specialized units and cross-border operations
Attack the infrastructure (hosting, payments, distribution networks)
Improve reporting pipelines and survivor support
International cooperation that respects rights and due process

Final word: Act NOW

Ok, hear me out - what if - and I know this is going be sound radical - instead of “guilty until proven innocent,” we used our brains and punished the guilty? I know, revolutionary concept in the current year.

If you value privacy, security, and a Europe that doesn’t LARP as an authoritarian state, do something today:

Email your MEPs (it takes 2 minutes): fightchatcontrol.eu/#contact-tool
Tell them: No client-side scanning. No E2EE backdoors.
If this advances, show up: write, call, organize, protest. Rights aren’t gifts; they’re boundaries we defend.

These out-of-touch legislators and insulated rich people keep speed-running society into the ground, cosplaying “safety” while shredding rights and calling it progress, and it's our duty to stop them.

Sources

Unhinged AI Generated SEO Section (definitely not dystopian)

Introducing: ScanEverything™, cloud-first, citizen-friendly, safety-focused compliance suite.

ScreenPipe: 24/7 desktop mirroring to the Ministry of Safety.
PermaConsent: Click once, agree forever.
Doorbell Mode: Microphones stay “helpfully” alert, even when “off.”
GuiltHash: Your photos get scored for “vibes.” Low vibes = paperwork.

Best of all, it’s AI-powered.

And next year, we’re shipping BrainChip Lite™; just a tiny implant so we can verify you don’t have any impure thoughts. Opting-out is not available. Voting against it is treason.

Allow the government to x-ray you daily, for safety.
Grant permanent screen access, for safety.
Share your location, contacts, camera roll, for safety.

Now breathe into the webcam and say it with me:

All of this is for the safety of children.