Chat Control 2.0, the European negotiation in September between protection of minors and citizens' privacy - Associazione Meter

Associazione METER ETS di Don Fortunato di Noto · 2026-08-31 · IT · verified record

Themes: Online marketplaces · Online platforms · Search services

PRESS RELEASE Chat Control 2.0, the European negotiation in September between protection of minors and citizens' privacy Associazione Meter and MEP Inselvini: “Before monitoring everyone, Europe should listen to those who are already finding child sexual criminals” Rome, 31 August 2026 - The fight against pedophilia and child sexual abuse material cannot be set against the right to privacy. Above all, it cannot become a choice between children's safety and citizens' freedom. Associazione Meter, which has been committed since 1989 to combating pedophilia, child sexual abuse material, and the sexual exploitation of minors, is watching closely the resumption, scheduled for September, of the European debate on the permanent regulation against online sexual abuse, the so-called “Chat Control 2.0.” “We are against a strategy that risks looking for criminals everywhere except where we are already finding them” Meter does not question the need for effective European tools. On the contrary: the fight against child sexual abuse material must be strengthened, made more timely, and directed toward the environments in which the phenomenon actually appears. This leads to a question for the European institutions: before imagining tools for monitoring the private communications of millions of citizens, why do you not ask those who have been monitoring child sexual criminal networks for years what they are finding? Meter has for years monitored platforms and digital environments used for the dissemination of child sexual abuse material. In 2025 the Association was also recognized by AGCOM as a Trusted Flagger under the Digital Services Act. Data from Meter's World Observatory Against Pedophilia show a shift of the phenomenon toward more closed environments that are harder to intercept. Signal is today one of the clearest examples. In the Meter Report 2025, the Association reported 451 Signal groups, equal to 69% of reports relating to platforms, in which child sexual abuse material was found, including content generated through artificial intelligence. Already between September and December 2024, 336 Signal groups had been monitored.…