Tech firms to be forced to scan people's private messages for child abuse under EU plan

In the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for child sexual abuse material rose by up to 25% in some member states, said the European Commission.

Child protection groups have welcomed radical EU proposals which will force tech companies to scan people’s private online communications, including encrypted messages, for child sexual abuse imagery and grooming.

However, civil rights advocates say the proposals amount to “indiscriminate mass surveillance” which would “destroy the right to privacy” — and open encrypted communications to attack by cyber gangs and totalitarian states.