Minister president: Privacy guarantees needed before approving ‘chat control’ legislation
Flemish minister president Matthias Diependaele says there must be additional privacy guarantees before Belgium can approve the EU’s proposed system for detecting images of child abuse.
The Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse (CSAR), known by critics as Chat Control, was proposed in 2022. The system would screen messages on every device before they are sent, circumventing the encryption in messaging services such as Signal.
If the software detects that a message matches known images of child abuse, it would notify a new European centre of expertise. AI would also be used to search for new images.
"The objective is legitimate and the Flemish government supports measures taken to protect children from sexual abuse"
The idea is controversial among groups including lawyers and privacy watchdogs, who fear that many people will be wrongly flagged.
The Directorate-General for European Affairs and Coordination, which is responsible for Belgium’s European policy, has not yet reached a consensus on approval, Diependaele told the Flemish Parliament on Thursday. “Additional guarantees are needed to safeguard privacy.”
Denmark has put the issue high on the European agenda during its presidency of the Council of the EU and intends to present it during a meeting of European Justice ministers on 14 October.
“The objective is legitimate and the Flemish government supports measures taken to protect children from sexual abuse,” said Diependaele, of N-VA.
“But experts rightly warn that mandatory scanning of private communications can lead to surveillance of random citizens. Very clear legal and technical safeguards must be built in. At the same time, it is important to investigate whether alternatives are possible.”
#FlandersNewsService | Minister president Matthias Diependaele at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, 1 October 2025 © PHOTO WERNER LEROOY
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