TechFlow news, October 15 — The European Union has nearly passed a controversial bill known as "chat control," which would require applications to scan all private messages. France has been actively pushing for the bill, but Germany's sudden opposition during the vote has temporarily stalled its passage.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov warned on social media that while the bill is framed as a measure to "combat crime," it primarily targets the privacy of ordinary citizens, who cannot easily evade surveillance, whereas criminals can easily bypass such monitoring using technologies like VPNs. Notably, the bill specifically exempts officials and police from message surveillance.
Currently, countries including Germany, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, and Belgium have clearly opposed the bill. The EU requires support from member states representing 65% of the population to pass the legislation, a threshold that has not been met due to Germany's opposition.
Durov revealed that the EU plans to hold another vote on the bill in December this year.
