Signal President Criticizes EUs Rhetorical Games in Battle Over Encrypted Messaging
The European Union’s proposal to combat child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online has come under fire from Signal President Meredith Whittaker. In a scathing blog post, Whittaker criticized the revised Chat Control law, arguing that it is an attempt to undermine end-to-end encryption (E2EE) through “rhetorical games.”
The original proposal, put forward by the EU Commission in mid-2022, would have required messaging apps to create a backdoor to E2EE messages to detect CSAM. Although the EU Parliament initially voted against mass screening of encrypted communications, a revised draft of the law now seeks to mandate “upload moderation” as an alternative method of mass scanning.
Whittaker contends that “upload moderation” is simply a rebranding of client-side scanning, a controversial technology that security and privacy experts say is incompatible with strong encryption. The revised proposal would require users of E2EE messaging apps to consent to scanning to detect CSAM, and those who do not consent would be prevented from sending visual content or URLs, effectively downgrading their messaging experience.
Whittaker emphasized that any approach that creates a vulnerability in E2EE can be exploited by hackers and hostile nation states, posing a direct threat to democratic values in a free and open society.
Despite the EU Parliament’s initial decision to exclude E2EE apps from mass surveillance orders in the Chat Control legislation, some European countries continue to push for “technical solutions” to ensure “lawful access” to encrypted data.
Whittaker called on lawmakers to stop playing word games with such a serious topic, emphasizing that the stakes are too high to engage in “embarrassing branding exercises” that do not sway the expert community.
As the EU continues to debate the Chat Control law, privacy advocates and security experts remain steadfast in their opposition to any measures that would undermine the integrity of E2EE.
