Even EU member states do not want platforms like WhatsApp to be able to be forced to read along with all the messages of all users. This is a great victory for all those who have long fought for this. And although the compromise is anything but "good enough," the Netherlands would have done well to support this text.
The governments of European member states (together in "the Council") have agreed on their position on the regulation to protect children and young people from sexual abuse. That bill has been controversial because it was intended to allow platforms such as WhatsApp to order reading along with all messages from all users. Ineffective, legally untenable and harmful to all. The compromise now agreed upon is not "good enough" but it is the best starting position we have seen from the Council in years.
That is why we think it is unwise for the House of Representatives to instruct the government to vote against the Danish compromise proposal this morning. The irony is great. The Netherlands has always abstained in votes, even when the worst of the worst was proposed. Now a compromise was proposed that met quite a bit of Dutch criticism. What did the Netherlands do? Voted against. (Technically: "do not support.") Let me explain.
