By Tamas ORBAN
The EP has already rejected the mass surveillance regime once, so the EPP has now forced a second vote, knowing there won't be enough MEPs on the last day before summer recess to stop it.
Apparently, 'no' means nothing to the EU elite. Nor does democracy, when it produces outcomes that don't fit its agenda.
After the European Parliament rejected the extension of a temporary exemption from EU privacy rules ( Chat Control 1.0) back in March, the centrist EPP and EP President Roberta Metsola used their influence to pressure the Council into a forced renewal, which the Parliament could have only stopped under a different voting procedure, requiring the absolute majority of all members in the plenary to reject it once more.
The idea was that if they scheduled the vote for the last day before the Parliament goes to summer recess, there probably wouldn't be enough MEPs left in Strasbourg to stop it, thereby bypassing the democratic decision that was already made months ago.
The strategy worked as intended: on Thursday, July 9th, only 276 MEPs voted against extending Chat Control, far less than the 361 required to stop or amend the interim exemption, which now remains in place until 2028.
This means instant message providers (such as WhatsApp) are allowed-or, rather, strongly encouraged-to scan private correspondence for possible child abuse material for two more years, which is more than enough for the current deadlock around the permanent legislation to resolve, and Chat Control 2.0 to enter into law.
CHAT CONTROL IS COMINGEven though most Members of the European Parliament have voted to REJECT Chat Control, we have not been able to reach the absolute majority that was needed (361 Members).
This is a sad day for Europeans. pic.twitter.com/fFJ1Khv0BS
- Fidias Panayiotou (@Fidias0) July 9, 2026
The EU's Child Sexual Abuse Regulation , known as Chat Control 2.0, has been the subject of major controversy for years. The current text, stuck in interinstitutional negotiations, will no longer only allow but mandate the indiscriminate scanning of private messages, including pictures and videos, even on encrypted messaging apps.
At least that's what the Commission and Council want. The reason there was no deal after five rounds of negotiations is that the Parliament still insists on targeted scanning of only those users already suspected of links to child sexual abuse and carried out only under a court order.
"Europe must protect children without treating every citizen as a suspect. That means targeted investigations, judicial authorization, concrete evidence, and action against specific criminals-not the general scrutiny of everyone's private life," Patriot MEP António Tanger Correa explained. "Security without liberty is not protection. It is control."
Since the permanent Chat Control wasn't finalized before the temporary measure expired in April-and its extension was narrowly voted down by the Parliament in March-the EPP needed to find other ways to ensure the mass surveillance of EU citizens.
Stabbing, her own parliament in the back, it was President Roberta Metsola who urged the Council to renew Chat Control 1.0 once more. Although she claimed she was asked to do it by leaders of the parliamentary groups, most of them revealed they were never even informed of the undemocratic ploy in the background. Except for Metsola's own EPP, of course, the group leading all three EU institutions and the biggest supporters of Chat Control.
Naturally, it all comes back to Ursula von der Leyen's EU Commission, which does everything in its power to make the unprecedented mass surveillance tool a reality in its strictest form possible.
This was already made apparent back in 2023, when a giant conflict-of-interest scandal, dubbed ' Chat Control Gate,' revealed that the Commission colluded with AI companies, EU-funded "child protection experts," and even Europol to legitimize the legislation and funnel money into building the unprecedented surveillance infrastructure, then broke several EU rules in an attempt to cover it up. And it even used illegal micro-targeting on social media to pressure reluctant member states into backing it as well.
Three years later, and still no one has suffered any consequences for Chat Control Gate, and the legislation was allowed to move forward. The Commission didn't stop pushing for it either, as four separate commissioners have written to MEPs in the last few days to urge them to back the proposal this time around, as if their previous decision didn't even exist.
Naturally, the opponents of Chat Control were quick to call out the blatantly undemocratic way of sidelining the Parliament and forcing its renewal through procedural loopholes.
"What kind of democracy is this if we're forced to vote on the same issue over and over until they get the result they want?" commented Cypriot MEP Fidias Panayiotou.
The EU Parliament REJECTED Chat Control, but now they are forcing us to vote it AGAIN to revive it. What kind of democracy is this if we're forced to vote on the same issue over and over until they get the result they want?My colleague @MarketkaG explained the situation very... pic.twitter.com/veRJZgMVbW
- Fidias Panayiotou (@Fidias0) July 8, 2026
Original article: europeanconservative.com