June 28, 2026
Read receipts from Brussels
EU to legislate about Chat Control behind closed doors
EU privacy fight turns messy as critics call it a backroom power grab
TLDR: Activists say EU leaders are trying to revive and expand rules that could force message scanning and weaken anonymous communication, with key decisions happening fast and largely out of public view. Commenters are furious, calling it anti-democratic, bad for trust in the EU, and another embarrassing tech own goal.
Europe’s latest privacy battle is getting the full political thriller treatment, and the comments are where the real fireworks are. The immediate drama: activists say European Union leaders are trying to push through new message-scanning rules in rushed meetings, with warnings that private chats, anonymous communication, and basic digital privacy could all take a hit. Civil rights campaigners are urging people to flood lawmakers with emails through fightchatcontrol.eu, but in the comments, the mood is less polite civic engagement and more “are you kidding me?”
The strongest reaction by far is outrage at what many see as a sneaky, behind-closed-doors move. One camp is furious that this could further wreck trust in the European Union, with commenters saying leaders feel too distant from ordinary voters to ever face consequences. Another hot take goes even harder: critics are dragging the EU not just for privacy policy, but for its whole tech reputation, tossing in side-swipes about falling behind the US on innovation and jokingly reviving the internet’s favorite old complaint, the cookie banner nightmare.
There’s also a grimly funny strain of sarcasm running through the thread: if this is supposed to look like efficient control, commenters say, it would at least help to have the technical muscle of the US or China. Ouch. Others skip the doom-posting and go tactical, sharing which countries are resisting and debating whether citizens should pressure supporters or friendly lawmakers instead. In other words: part panic, part cynicism, part group project.
Key Points
- •The article says Patrick Breyer is warning of two parallel EU legislative moves that could expand message scanning and restrict anonymous communication.
- •The first move described is an effort to revive the temporary Chat Control 1.0 regulation despite the European Parliament having rejected it in March.
- •The second move is the Monday trilogue on the permanent Chat Control 2.0 / CSAR proposal, with a new European Parliament mandate on scanning expected the same day.
- •The article identifies possible outcomes including renewed large-scale private-message scanning, detection orders without prior court approval, and mandatory age verification for hosting and communications services.
- •Civil society has relaunched fightchatcontrol.eu to help citizens contact Member States and parliamentary negotiators using prepared legal and technical arguments.