Daily Briefing – Friday 10th July

Good morning and welcome to your Unbound Daily Briefing - topics we are covering today include:

• Chat Control Bill passes on a technicality, despite having previously lost

Chat Control Bill passes on a technicality, despite having previously lost

A controversial law within the EU, dubbed the "Chat Control" regulation, was resuscitated in the EU Parliament yesterday having been allowed to expire back in March 2026. The regulation, a derogation from the ePrivacy Directive, allows for internet technology companies who offer communications through their users (so messaging platforms such as Messenger or Whatsapp as well as some social media platforms) to scan all messages sent and received to identify those sharing Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) material. Though the motivations of the derogation were and are sound, the derogation itself raised significant concerns regarding the level of user monitoring and the impact to privacy that this would require in order to be effective.

Though a previous attempt to extend the derogation failed, a different approach was secured by its advocates to give a higher likelihood of success (requiring an absolute majority to object, despite knowing that many MEPs would not attend due to proximity to summer recess and summer holidays). However two amendments also managed to secure absolute majorities, which will hamper the progress of the Bill.

• Read the Euronews story on the passing of the Bill through the EU Parliament
• Read the text of the Bill itself