One-man spam campaign ravages EU ‘Chat Control’ bill – POLITICO
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I believe the current Danish chat control is still trying to convince the countries against it to change their minds by Christmas, hopefully they won’t and some of the countries for it will see sense. In the meantime it is worth noting how effective this campaign has been.

From October 8th 2025

One-man spam campaign ravages EU ‘Chat Control’ bill

A software developer from Denmark is having an outsized influence on a hotly debated law to break open encrypted apps.

BRUSSELS — A website set up by an unknown Dane over the course of one weekend in August is giving a massive headache to those trying to pass a European bill aimed at stopping child sexual abuse material from spreading online.

The website, called Fight Chat Control, was set up by Joachim, a 30-year-old software engineer living in Aalborg, Denmark. He made it after learning of a new attempt to approve a European Union proposal to fight child sexual abuse material — a bill seen by privacy activists as breaking encryption and leading to mass surveillance.

The site lets visitors compile a mass email warning about the bill and send it to national government officials, members of the European Parliament and others with ease. Since launching, it has broken the inboxes of MEPs and caused a stir in Brussels’ corridors of power.

“We are getting hundreds per day about it,” said Evin Incir, a Swedish Socialists and Democrats MEP, of the email deluge.

Three diplomats at national permanent representation offices said they too have received a large number of emails.

Joachim’s website has stoked up an already red-hot debate around the CSAM proposal, which would give police the power to force companies like WhatsApp and Signal to scan their services for the illegal content. Critics fear the bill would enable online state surveillance.

Elon Musk’s X said Monday that the bill could enable “government instituted mass surveillance,” and encrypted chat app Signal said last weekend it would pull out of Europe if the bill passed. Meta’s WhatsApp also came out against Denmark’s proposal — backing Europe’s privacy groups, which have railed against the bill ever since its conception.

EU countries are split into two camps. One side broadly backs the bill’s measures as a way to stop predators from sharing illegal content of children; the other says it would create a surveillance state and be ineffective.

Denmark proposed a new version on its first day holding the presidency of the Council of the EU in July. Danish diplomats hope to get an agreement at a meeting of ministers in Luxembourg next week, and for that, the proposal needs to get past EU ambassadors on Wednesday.

Continue reading here - https://www.politico.eu/article/one-man-spam-campaign-ravages-eu-chat-control-bill-fight-chat-control/

  • Babalugats@feddit.ukOPEnglish
    1·
    4 days ago

    The thread title is the headline of the article. It’s the reason it caught my eye (and many others). Despite using the word spam, it shows how effective the campaign has been. They mention that the site developer never paid to promote it. Which shows how many people are against it. Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard (would like to see his credentials) is the main supporter of this particular chat control, is moaning saying:

    “This has nothing to do with ‘Chat Control,’ as the sponsors of the citizens’ initiative claim,”

    So it’s good on that level too, that he, and the eu council finally have to comment on it, as they were hoping to never actually address it and just push it through. It’s also stated in the article

    Ella Jakubowska, head of policy at digital rights group EDRi, said “This campaign seems to have raised the topic high up the agenda in member states where there was previously little to no public debate."