EU Parliament Passes Chat Control by Default: 314 MEPs Couldn’t Block Scanning Law

The EU Parliament passed Chat Control 1.0 into law Thursday afternoon without a majority of its members ever voting for it. Of the 607 MEPs who cast a vote in Strasbourg, 314 voted to reject the measure — a clear majority of those present. They fell 47 votes short of the 361-vote absolute majority required to stop it under second-reading procedural rules, and the law passed by default. Voluntary mass scanning of private messages on platforms including Gmail, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, and Skype is now a legal activity in the EU until April 3, 2028. The result closes a three-month...