20260226 Chatkontrolle als Verordnung

26.02.2026 Chatkontrolle als Verordnung

"Voluntary" chat monitoring

For years, surveillance fanatics from various EU countries have been trying to introduce chat control — i.e., the monitoring of the content of our communications via the Internet. This would force providers to monitor our communications. Fortunately, there has been no majority in favor of this so far. Nevertheless, two years ago the EU introduced "voluntary chat monitoring" by means of a regulation, i.e., providers are allowed to store confidential communications. This is currently expiring and is therefore to be extended for another two years.

But this type of surveillance is actually prohibited. The 2002 Electronic Communications Privacy Directive protects the confidentiality of communications. One article prohibits the monitoring of messages without the consent of the users concerned, writes netzpolitik.org.

So now "voluntary" surveillance continues, and the EU Commission hopes to gain majority support by 2028 for the surveillance hammer, which has been controversial in the trilogue negotiations since 2021. The current issue is whether small providers can also be forced to monitor traffic. For many, this would mean their financial ruin.