Chat Control Secria

Chat ControlThe interim rules

What is Chat Control 1.0?

The informal name for the EU's temporary rules that let messaging and webmail services scan for child sexual abuse material voluntarily. The current version applies until 3 April 2028 and excludes end-to-end encrypted messages.1

Checked 29 October 2026 against the sources.

Why a temporary law exists

EU privacy law protects the confidentiality of communications. When new telecoms rules brought webmail and messaging under it in December 2020, the scanning some services already did needed a legal exception.1

ActPeriodWhat changed
Regulation (EU) 2021/123214 July 2021From 2021The original exception, pending a long-term law.1
Regulation (EU) 2024/130729 April 2024Until 3 Apr 2026Extended the 2021 rules.1
No exception3 Apr 2026 to the new rulesThe co-legislators did not agree an extension in time, and the 2021 rules expired.1
Regulation (EU) 2026/1881Published 28 July 2026Until 3 Apr 2028A new act, not an extension. Excludes end-to-end encrypted communications and audio.1, 2
 Regulation 2026/1881 enters into force on the third day after its publication.1

What the current rules allow

A provider may scan only if it meets every condition in Article 3. The main ones:1

  1. Only to detect, remove and report abuse material and to detect grooming, and only as far as strictly necessary.
  2. Never on communications to which end-to-end encryption "is, has been or will be applied".
  3. With the least privacy-intrusive technology. Text scanning may only detect patterns, not work out what a conversation says.
  4. After a data protection impact assessment and consultation of the data protection authority.
  5. With human oversight. Material not known before is not reported without a human confirming it.Users must be told clearly that the provider uses the exception, and be able to complain.
  6. With a yearly public report, including the numbers and ratios of false positives.
Good to knowNothing in these rules requires a service to scan. They create an exception that a provider may use.1

How it was passed

  1. The Commission proposes extending the old rules by two years.2
  2. The Parliament votes for a shorter, narrower extension, until August 2027, and sends it to negotiations.3
  3. The Parliament rejects the Commission's proposal, closing its first reading.4
  4. The old rules expire.1
  5. Second reading: a motion to reject gets 314 votes to 276, short of the 360 needed. MEPs add the exclusion for end-to-end encrypted communications.4
  6. The Council approves the amendments: 25 in favor, Hungary against, Belgium abstaining. France records concern about the encryption exclusion.5 The vote by country
  7. Published in the Official Journal.2

Questions people ask

Is Chat Control 1.0 active?

Yes. Regulation 2026/1881 applies until 3 April 2028.1

Does it cover encrypted chats?

No. It does not apply to interpersonal communications to which end-to-end encryption is, has been or will be applied, nor to the scanning of audio.1

What happens after April 2028?

The rules are meant to last until the permanent regulation is adopted and applies.1 What happens next

This page describes a law. It is not legal advice.

Sources 5
  1. PE-CONS 14/1/26 REV 1, the signed text of Regulation (EU) 2026/1881, recitals 9 to 13 and Articles 1, 3 and 11, 24 July 2026, European Parliament and Council. Read 29 October 2026.
  2. Procedure file 2025/0429(COD) and final act summary, European Parliament Legislative Observatory. Read 29 October 2026.
  3. Summary of the Parliament's vote of 11 March 2026, European Parliament Legislative Observatory. Read 29 October 2026.
  4. Combating child sexual abuse online: support for more limited ePrivacy derogation, 9 July 2026, European Parliament. Read 29 October 2026.
  5. 12382/26, voting result, written procedure completed on 23 July 2026, Council of the EU. Read 29 October 2026.

Every fact here comes from the text of the law and the EU's own records, checked again and dated. How we check