Mass Surveillance in the EU under ‘Chat Control 1.0’ Law

Featured image: Image showing the EU control. Source: AI

The European Parliament has approved a prolongation of the temporary law ‘Chat Control 1.0’, that increases the State’s surveillance on their population’s electronic conversations, allowing scanning and analyzing text messages in digital platforms, the Danish media Roede Fane reports.

This law was established in 2021 and has now been extended until 2028. Under the premise of “detecting child sexual abuse” the European Parliament has approved this law, which allows message and social media companies – such as Whatsapp, Telegram, Instagram, X, Reddit, TikTok, etc. – to read the private chats of users.

It is expected that a permanent law – the so-called ‘Chat Control 2.0’ – will be approved in the future, being even more intrusive and which will demand – not just allow – the possibility of surveilling the population within the European Union.

This law shows the general tendency to increase mass surveillance and control over the population, along with similar cases like the use of social media by ICE to carry out mass deportations and raids against protesters. In India, up to 50 police cells – dedicated to the monitoring of social media activity – were founded in each of the following states: Punjab, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal or Assam. The surveillance goes beyond ‘private’ chats, using also the geolocalization of the electronic devices or the microphones to carry out the surveillance.