The European Parliament backed changes to a proposed derogation from ePrivacy rules intended to let internet and communications providers voluntarily detect child sexual abuse (CSA) online. MEPs adopted amendments to the Council’s position at plenary, aiming to limit how broadly detection measures could apply.

In particular, Parliament’s amendments would remove “communications to which end-to-end encryption is, has been or will be applied” from the scope of the measure. MEPs also framed the derogation as a temporary step while a longer-term legal framework to address child sexual abuse online is being negotiated.

The vote reflects that, during the legislative process, Parliament had previously rejected extending the derogation after it lapsed on 3 April 2026, and then reopened the file under a second-reading process. After Parliament’s current vote, the amended text is to be sent to the Council, which has three months to approve or reject the amendments; if not all amendments are accepted, the proposal would move to conciliation.