The European legislative framework wants to force all users of electronic messaging services to automatically consent to all photos and videos they send being processed with unclear mechanism and in violation of the right to encrypt communication, guaranteeing its secrecy.
In June 2024, the Council of the European Union planned a vote to oblige all providers of electronic messaging services to reduce embedded encryption. It guarantees the confidentiality of correspondence while an algorithm decides whether the photos or videos being sent contain content that can be defined as “sexual abuse against children”.
The vote did not take place because a large number of EU countries were of the opinion that this is not an effective measure and accordingly contradicts the EU Charter, the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and laws such as GDPR. This year, a vote is planned again under the same framework, and that is why we need publicity.
The Law on Access to Public Information makes it clear that the official position of Bulgaria is “For” the proposal, which has been achieved by finding a workable balance that ensures the effective implementation of law enforcement powers. At the same time, it assures full respect for the privacy and fundamental rights of all parties concerned.
The organization considers that these two statements are contradictory and wishes that the position that Bulgaria will have to offer at the next discussion will be “Against” with the following arguments:
- l The proposal requires users of electronic services of applications such as WhatsApp, Signal, Viber, Telegram and the like, to consent to their content – photos and video to be processed and viewed in an obscure mechanism by a private entity in order for them to use this service. According to the GDRP, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and other legal frameworks is not a valid form of consent, but rather a form of coercion.
- l For such a condition to be met, for electronic service providers using end-to-end encryption, it would mean the creation of a mechanism to interrupt this process. However, this opens many doors for unauthorized access, for violation of the rights of personal correspondence, company, military and state secrets.
- l Victims of sexual violence have repeatedly emphasized the great importance of confidential communication channels. However, the introduction of automated real-time monitoring would deprive victims of violence of precisely these safe spaces for information exchange and confidential communication with lawyers and therapists.
- l Article 7 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights states that everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, home and communications.
- l According to a decision of the European Court, the permanent and general automatic analysis of private communications violates fundamental rights (Case C-511/18, paragraph 192).
- l This would also put us under the presumption of guilty until proven guilty because the scanning would be public, without a court order, and done by private entities.
Elektronna Granitsa Bulgaria appeals to Bulgaria to reconsider the decision and vote against the specific proposal in a subsequent vote and thus encourage the legislator to take adequate measures, and not to use the fundamentally wrong approach to control the personal messages of the millions of users of electronic services in Europe.
“Defenders of digital rights, who are fighting to preserve the secrecy of correspondence, which was very hard won a few years ago, are often accused of harming the fight against crimes against children. This is one of those tricks that those who want to monitor your every communication use to manipulate public opinion. There's a term for that, but I'll leave it up to you to discover. We offer alternatives and are ready for dialogue at any level to help solve this problem.” says Bogomil Shopov, one of the active participants in the campaign against this measure and co-founder of Electronic Border Bulgaria.
Instead of ineffective technical attempts to limit the spread of exploitative material that has been released, all efforts should be focused on preventing such recordings in the first place. Prevention concepts and education play a key role as the majority of cases of abuse never come to light. Victim protection organizations also often suffer from unstable funding.
In order to achieve effective prevention of online abuse and especially manipulation of children, online services should be required to prominently display reporting features on the platforms. If the service is aimed at and/or used by young people or children, providers should also be required to inform them of the risks of online manipulation.
Mass surveillance is never a solution.
People who constantly feel watched cannot fight freely and bravely for their rights and for a just society. This is why mass surveillance threatens the very essence of democratic and open societies.
Surveillance, mistrust and fear are gradually turning our society into a whole uncritical consumer who “has nothing to hide” – which means that in a desperate attempt to achieve total security he is ready to give up his freedoms.