For some time now, the way we all – as European and global citizens – communicate has been well established: email, text messages, but above all WhatsApp and Telegram are just some of the most widely used means of communication, for several hours a day.
Our privacy has been safeguarded – until now – by regulations, laws and IT systems, such as the well-known end-to-end encryption.

Let us now consider a possible surreal scenario: all our private messages, including photos and videos, could be scanned and read by an outsider, for no apparent reason. The anxiety caused by such a situation is not entirely dystopian: the threat is very real indeed.

What is Chat Control?

The official draft of this European regulation is entitled “Proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat sexual abuse of children”.
The term ‘Chat Control’ does not, therefore, originate from the parliamentary debates in Strasbourg, but was coined by critics and opponents of this proposed legislation.

The aim of the regulation is to protect children online from grooming and sexual abuse: the EU wants to identify child sexual abuse material on the internet and prevent further incidents.
This stems from an assessment by the European Commission, which describes the measures taken so far as insufficient; it also reiterates that only a few operators and individual Member States are taking concrete action in this regard.

The aim is certainly a noble one: to reduce and prevent cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of the youngest online users. In 2025, in fact, the so-called ‘helplines’ – co-funded by the EU – received over 4.5 million reports of potentially illegal digital content, more than half of which concerned child sexual abuse material or the sexual exploitation of children.
This shows just how urgent the problem is.

The single European framework, which was drafted back in 2022 in response to the urgent need expressed by the Commission, has not yet been approved.

It’s the ‘how’ that’s causing the debate

The reason for the rejection lies at the heart of the proposal: the detection orders. These allow the relevant authorities to require certain online service providers ( such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and others) to detect child sexual abuse material – whether new or already present – and grooming, that is, attempts to lure children.
All this, however, clearly interferes with fundamental privacy rights: in the process of screening for potentially suspicious material, our communications, chats and online conversations could be read and examined, in direct violation of our right to privacy, which is constitutionally guaranteed in Italy.

The EU document itself acknowledges these limitations and emphasises that private communications – as distinct from content that is already in the public domain – would certainly be under greater threat than in the past.
To identify potentially illegal content, it is necessary to automatically scan the text of personal communications, a task that is – almost always – carried out by algorithms and automated systems. Furthermore, errors are frequent: average accuracy rates stand at 90 per cent, with an average of around 10 incorrect detections per 100. This figure therefore makes human verification necessary.

End-to-end encryption has been ruled out, for the time being

Anyone of us who has a chat on WhatsApp can scroll back to the start of the conversation and find the relevant message, which explains that nobody – not even WhatsApp – can read or listen to its contents.

This encryption system, which protects our conversations, was excluded from the legislation following the European Parliament’s vote on 9 July: communications ‘to which end-to-end encryption is, has been or will be applied’ will not be affected by Chat Control, at least for the time being.
The text of the proposal has been amended and is now back with the Council, which will have three months to accept it or open a new round of discussions with the Parliament.

The legislation, therefore, should it come into force, would not apply to our private, encrypted chats, such as those on WhatsApp. However, concerns remain regarding a regulation that is still in the process of being finalised.

Are we at risk of mass surveillance?

The most rational answer possible is ‘No’, the intention is not to monitor and keep records of all European citizens.
On closer examination, however, the most obvious drawbacks of this regulation become apparent, which may give rise to malicious and suspicious thoughts.

It is not clear, in fact, on what grounds these search warrants will be issued: the mere presence of suspicions – which are sometimes unfounded – certainly cannot justify a complete breach of private conversations.
In our country, in order to seize materials or content found on a suspect’s devices, a warrant from the Public Prosecutor is required, authorising a search.
In this case, however, the modus operandi is not traditional (in legal terms), because it would be the service provider who decides to use automated tools on a large number of communications written by people against whom there is no suspicion whatsoever.

A further point to consider is the widespread use of algorithms

Potentially designed specifically by those who appear to wish to see the European Union crumble from within (such as China or Russia), these computer systems could easily collect data and information drawn from millions of private conversations between users across Europe. These same algorithms would then operate more extensively on social media and search engines, influencing our free thinking with content geared towards the most extreme and anti-European fringes of national politics (such as that of the now former Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán, for example).
At a time when our thinking is increasingly shaped by what we see online, monitoring our chats would only serve to accelerate the erosion – which has been underway for years now – of our personal privacy.

The warning from Orwell’s literature

The quintessential dystopian society – one which we in Europe risk moving closer to – is the one depicted by George Orwell in *1984*, a novel written three years after the end of the Second World War.
Although 78 years have passed since its publication, this book still issues a warning that is as relevant as ever: a democratic state must be built on freedom, even in the pursuit of its noblest aims.

The aim of Chat Control is to track down online paedophiles and prevent future offences: could this really mark the end – or, at the very least, a significant curtailment – of a citizen’s inviolable freedom?
Whilst seeking to eradicate these offences and punish those who commit such crimes, it is also necessary to implement robust preventative measures aimed at reducing the risks to young people online. Today’s technology can be a trap from which there is no escape, which is why children aged 12, 13 and 14 must receive appropriate education.
Action to address the consequences must therefore be accompanied by support measures for younger users through awareness-raising and prevention initiatives, which have not yet been given much consideration by the European Commission.

Without analysing the issues from both a cause-and-effect perspective, our Europe could come to resemble neo-Orwellian nations more and more, where ‘Chat Controls’ on encrypted conversations are already in place – essentially everywhere in the world except in Europe and the United States.
Control, surveillance and repression will certainly not lead to substantial improvements, but rather to fear and the risk of civil unrest.

Change does not mean losing your freedom

If we do not want to lose our inalienable rights, we must urge the authorities to adopt a two-pronged approach: punishment, yes, but without infringing on the rights of all European users, and, above all, by taking action to prevent online risks.

Are there really any goals so imperative that they justify the loss of freedom?
I am sure that most European citizens would answer ‘No’.
It is the EU’s responsibility to steer this change, so as not to risk turning democracy into a pure dystopia before long.