It was nearly two years ago that I wrote this article[1] about the EU #ChatControl surveillance directive on behalf of the @cryptpad team.
Very little has changed since then. Experts in technology, law, and policy all agree that the proposal undermines basic European rights, that it will be abused by authoritarian member states, and that the proposed tech solutions cannot possibly do the job the supporting legislators have claimed.
Nevertheless, they have persisted, claiming the support of "expert testimony" that overwhelmingly consists of unsupported claims by lobbyists associated with law enforcement and defense contractors who stand to benefit financially from its implementation.
A vote is expected to take place on June 19th. These have been scheduled and delayed multiple times already, but this it feels like they might get away with it. There is a lot going on in the EU at the moment, and people are both distracted and tired from fighting this for so long.
I'll try to make resistance easier by collecting some suggested actions below, with links.
[1]: blog.cryptpad.org/2022/05/19/a…
Against #chatcontrol
Something terrible is happening in the EU and we need help to stop itblog.cryptpad.org
ansuz / ऐरन
in reply to ansuz / ऐरन • • •First, review posts with the #ChatControl hashtag, as there are lots of well-informed people sharing reliable information.
@quincy linked to a directory of the relevant contact points for each EU member state and requested that people write a (polite) letter, so if you have voting rights in the EU that's a good place to start.
chaos.social/@quincy/112630111…
Quincy
2024-06-17 04:38:35
ansuz / ऐरन
in reply to ansuz / ऐरन • • •As a leading voice of the German Pirate party and a member of EU parliament, Patrick Breyer (@echo_pbreyer) has actively opposed the proposed legislation throughout its lifetime.
He (and perhaps also his team?) have maintained a comprehensive, fact-checked summary of the proposal's status, with a practical "What can you do" section:
patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/cha…
Chat Control: The EU's CSEM scanner proposal
Patrick Breyer