EU backs away from requiring tech companies to scan and remove CSAM

EU member states have agreed on a position regarding online child protection legislation that doesn't force global tech companies to identify and remove child sexual abuse materials (CSAM.) This is being seen as a major victory for US tech companies like Google and Meta, according to reporting by Reuters.

This new European Council language contradicts a 2023 position in which the European Parliament would have required messaging services, app stores and ISPs to report and remove CSAM materials and instances of grooming. The proposed legislation doesn't have any of that.

Instead, it tasks major tech companies with assessing the risk of their services, taking preventative measures as deemed necessary. It leaves enforcement up to individual national governments and not the EU governing body.

"Member states will designate national authorities ... responsible for assessing these risk assessments and mitigating measures, with the possibility of obliging ...