The European Union has reinstated temporary rules allowing online service providers to voluntarily detect and report child sexual abuse material, after a previous legal
framework expired earlier this year.
The European Commission said the Council’s decision restores legal certainty for technology companies, allowing them to continue reporting suspected abuse and removing illegal content from their platforms until 3 April 2028.
The move follows amendments approved by the European Parliament earlier this month, which excluded encrypted interpersonal communications from the scope of the rules. The Commission said it supported those changes.
Officials said voluntary reporting by online platforms was “essential” in identifying victims and helping authorities stop abuse. In many cases, such reports are the only way that child exploitation is discovered, the Commission said.
The temporary system also aims to prevent further harm to survivors by removing child sexual abuse material from circulation, reducing the risk that victims are repeatedly traumatised by the continued spread of images and videos showing their abuse.
The decision comes amid growing concerns over the scale of online child exploitation. The Commission said reports of newly created abusive material had increased more than 200-fold over the past three years, partly due to the misuse of artificial intelligence. Reports of online grooming had also risen twelve-fold over the same period.
European officials said restoring the rules would strengthen efforts to identify offenders, protect children and support victims.
However, the measure is only a temporary solution. The Commission said a permanent legal framework was still needed and urged the European Parliament and member states to reach an agreement on long-term legislation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.
The EU executive first proposed new permanent rules in May 2022, aimed at creating a comprehensive system for detecting abuse, supporting victims, identifying perpetrators and reducing the further spread of illegal material.
Negotiations between EU lawmakers and member states on the long-term legislation are continuing. Photo by KK IN HK, Wikimedia commons.