Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Netherlands’ government and opposition are both against the latest interpretation of the controversial EU regulation sought to detect online child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The regulation, which sought to detect online CSAM, has been condemned for potentially allowing the scanning of private notes on platforms such as WhatsApp or Gmail. However, the most delinquent compromise text, dated 9 September, limits detection to available material, among other changes. ‘Known’ material guides to content that has already been spreading and detected, in distinction to ‘new’ material that has not yet been identified.
The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU conveyed a partial general approach dated 24 September that reflects the 9 September text but decreases the reevaluation period from five years to three for grooming and new CSAM.
Limiting detection to known material could slow authorities’ ability to surveil massive amounts of communications, meaning the change is likely an endeavour to reconcile privacy concerns.
The Netherlands initially backed the proposal to limit detection to ‘known’ material but started its support in early September.
Why did the Netherlands shift its stance on csam?
Amsterdam officially took a standpoint against the general approach, despite speculation last week suggesting the government might shift its position in favour of the regulation. This is also despite the Dutch mostly claiming that their primary concern lies with fighting known CSAM – a focus that aligns with the scope of the latest proposal. According to various statistics, the Netherlands hosts a considerable amount of CSAM.
The Dutch had been thinking of supporting the proposal, or at least a “silent abstention” that might have diluted the blocking minority, signalling a shift since Friday (27 September). While a change in the Netherlands’ stance could have affected the blocking minority in the EU Council, their current position now strengthens it.
Both the Dutch government and the opposition are against backing the new partial general approach. Opposition party GroenLinks-PvdA (Greens/EFA) issued an open letter, also on, supported by a coalition of national and EU-based private and non-profit organisations, demanding the government to vote against the proposal.
According to the letter, the regulation will be examined at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 11 October, with positions corresponding among member states on 2 October. The Dutch Secret Service resisted the draft regulation because “introducing a scan application on every mobile phone” with infrastructure to handle the scans would be a complex and extensive system that would introduce threats to digital resilience, according to a decision note.
