Europe’s conservatives revive zombie bill on child abuse scanning – POLITICO

STRASBOURG — A high-stakes face-off in Strasbourg on Thursday edges the European Union one step closer to resurrecting a once-dead child sexual abuse law.

The European Parliament voted to send a bill giving tech companies the legal right to scan for child sexual abuse material to EU member countries for approval. The surprise twist comes just months after the European Parliament rejected the bill in March, and follows a push by the center-right European People’s Party, which prompted EU capitals to restart negotiations on the once-dead law.

The fight against online child abuse material has heated up European politics for months, and has gotten everyone from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to tech mogul and X owner Elon Musk to speak up. Child rights groups say the EU bill is critical to protect children from pedophiles and predators. Critics say it comes with serious privacy and surveillance risks.