The European Parliament has blocked the extension of a law that permitted big tech firms to scan for child sexual exploitation on their platforms, creating a legal gap that child safety experts warn will lead to crimes going undetected. The law, a temporary carve-out of the EU's ePrivacy Directive, expired on 3 April after the Parliament decided not to vote on its extension amid privacy concerns from some lawmakers.
Google, Meta, Snap and Microsoft issued a joint statement expressing disappointment, calling the decision an 'irresponsible failure' to protect children online. They said they would continue to voluntarily scan their platforms for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The regulatory gap creates uncertainty because scanning for harms is now illegal, yet companies remain liable to remove illegal content under the Digital Services Act.
Child protection advocates warned that the lapse could trigger a steep fall in reports of child sexual abuse, echoing a 58% drop during a similar legal gap in 2021. John Shehan, vice-president at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), said: 'When detection tools are disrupted, we lose visibility that directly impacts our ability to find and protect child sexual abuse victims.' In 2025, NCMEC received 21.3 million reports of suspected child abuse from around the world.
The European Parliament said it was prioritising work on a permanent legal framework but offered no timeline. Privacy advocates argue that scanning threatens fundamental rights and could lead to mass surveillance. However, Hannah Swirsky of the Internet Watch Foundation countered: 'Blocking CSAM is not an evasion of privacy. Free speech does not include sexual abuse of children.'
