By Arvid Bertilsson
Chat control, the new mass surveillance proposal currently making the rounds within the European institutions, is a political travesty. The EU Commission proposes mandatory scanning of all private chats, messages, and emails, aimed at the noble goal of combating child sexual exploitation. The end product, however, would be mass, automated real-time surveillance of digital communication – even encrypted services. Other elements of the legislation include ineffective network blocking and scanning personal cloud storage.
Having previously been stopped by political blockages in the Parliament and Council, the legislation is back on the agenda during the Hungarian presidency. Several previously opposed governments, like France, have dropped their previous objections, while others are only requesting minor changes (like limiting searches to “known content” or excluding end-to-end encryption), which would still lead to mass surveillance and privacy breaches. There is now an imminent risk of the legislation being passed after an upcoming trilogue between the EU institutions. If passed, all your chats, emails, and private messages could be scanned automatically for suspicious content without a court order. If flagged, intimate photos or messages could be viewed by contractors, police, or indeed by hackers who will easily access your information by the same backdoor that chat control will pry open. Intelligence agencies around the world, including those of our enemies, will have a field day. Our digital communications are central to our everyday lives, not least for young people and students. We cannot afford to turn our attention away from this matter. This breach of privacy will have lasting and severe consequences for all of us.
Some people respond with the old and tried retort: ”those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear”. But as has been shown, again and again, mass surveillance doesn’t just impact those who are actively engaged in criminal activities; it creates a culture of apprehension and fear for everyone. As Europeans, we may have forgotten the dark chapters of our own history, where mass surveillance was a tool of authoritarian despots, not only due to the information it controlled, but by how it affected the citizens in its grasp. Examples abound; the Stasi in East Germany springs immediately to mind. When people know their private lives are being watched, they begin to second guess their every word and their every sentence. People begin to self-censor, fearful that anything they say or do could be misinterpreted or weaponized against them. Such changes may lead us down a dangerous path. With this new legislation, that possibility becomes very real.
There are many, more proportional measures to be taken to counteract the vile exploitation of children without engaging in the practice of mass surveillance. Proposals that have been presented include providers being tasked with preventing the circulation of illegal material. Guarantees for users of applications to block and limit other people’s access to their communication could be implemented. Providers can be tasked with removing clearly prohibited material, and law enforcement agencies can be obliged to report illegal materials to providers for removal.
Now, it is possible – if not likely – that most of the politicians advocating for this legislation do not share in a wish to subdue the citizenry of Europe, or perhaps they do not believe that such a subjugation will be the outcome. But worryingly, a majority of MEPs have pushed this legislation through the EU’s institutions while maintaining a most deliberate silence. When politicians resort to sacrificing our principles of freedom so carelessly, they are quietly watering the weeds of political degeneration that allows for political suppression to take root. The EU is a vast political project already grappling with populist movements and deficits in public confidence. It cannot long endure a blatant disregard for the sanctity of our freedoms, on which our whole political culture is founded.
The exploitation of children for sexual purposes is an unspeakable crime that should fill anyone who hears about it with revulsion. But those who sacrifice their principles in the pursuit of righteous ends will soon find themselves in a moral abyss. Today, our lives and our communities are under constant attack by undemocratic forces. We will need a clear political vision and a solid understanding of our ideological foundations, and we cannot afford to waste our precious time digging our proverbial graves or carelessly misleading each other with impossible promises. Among us, we may then awaken further monsters that cannot be tamed, and whose appetite cannot be sated.
Arvid Bertilsson
Chairman of CREAS