German police demand further chat controls as EU rule comes to an end

The German Police Union (GdP) issued a stark warning that the fight against child abuse will become more difficult as a Europe-wide regulation ends amid disagreement as to how it should continue, reported dpa.

The impending end of voluntary “chat monitoring” at EU level will significantly hamper police efforts to effectively combat serious forms of crime against children and young people, the union said on Saturday.

At present, an exemption allows messaging services to voluntarily scan chats to combat child abuse. The EU exemption expires on April 3.

The temporary exemption from European data protection rules allows messaging services and platforms to scan message histories to detect and report prohibited depictions of child sexual abuse, primarily images and videos.

Despite talks this week, negotiators from EU member states and the European Parliament were unable to agree on a compromise going forward.

The GdP seeks an extension of the exemption until a long-term solution is found for legal requirements to protect children online - an aim shared by EU.

Criminals must not be given “unnecessary access to commit their vile acts,” the union warned.

GdP Deputy Federal Chairman Alexander Poitz also called for the police to be given all the necessary resources to detect relevant criminal content, identify perpetrators and protect victims.