Title: Tougher Stand Against Child Pornography: Strobl Pushes for Stricter Reporting Requirements
In a bid to strengthen the fight against child pornography, Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) is advocating for stricter reporting requirements at the upcoming Conference of Interior Ministers in Berlin. As reported by the German Press Agency in Stuttgart, this new stance against internet providers involves demanding EU-level obligations for those most susceptible to abuse to report sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities.
Currently, European regulations allow providers to report abuse on a voluntary basis, with the EU Commission now revising these regulations that will expire in August 2024. The revised draft proposes that all messenger and hosting services in the EU assess the risk of child pornography on their platforms. Providers deemed to be particularly at risk of abuse would then be required to report child abuse within their services.
Strobl fully supports this proposal, emphasizing that the current voluntary approach cannot accommodate the fight against child pornography anymore. As a society, our primary duty is to protect the weakest members, our children, he stressed.
Key Takeaways
- The increasing prevalence of child pornography online has become a significant concern in domestic policy discussions.
- The proposed EU changes to reporting requirements center on mandatory scanning of all private chats, messages, and emails for suspicious content.
- Over 80% of respondents in a public consultation have opposed this proposal due to concerns about mass surveillance and the end of digital correspondence privacy.
- The EU Parliament has almost unanimously voiced their opposition to indiscriminate chat control, with no common position adopted among EU governments.
- Despite the privacy concerns, any politician's stance, including Strobl's, would likely reflect the need to enhance reporting requirements to combat criminality in domestic policy.
