EU states have given the final green light to a regulation allowing online service providers to resume voluntary detection and removal of child sexual abuse material on their platforms.
The Interim Regulation lays down a derogation from certain provisions of the e-Privacy Directive for the purpose of combating online child sexual abuse. It is temporary and aims to protect children while a long-term legislative framework is under negotiation.
The development restores legal certainty after the expiry of the previous interim derogation on 3 April this year. Online service providers can now continue voluntary detection and reporting of child sexual abuse on their services until 3 April 2028. Such reporting is seen as essential for the rescue of child victims since it is often the only way to uncover abuse. The interim derogation also supports the removal of child sexual abuse material from circulation, which reduces the secondary victimisation that continues to haunt survivors of child sexual abuse for years, sometimes decades after the physical abuse has ended.
The number of reports of new material increased by more than 200 times over the past 3 years, driven by the misuse of Artificial Intelligence. In parallel, there was a twelve-fold increase in reporting of online grooming. Reinstating this framework strengthens our ability to identify abuse, support victims and stop offenders.
The measure constitutes a derogation from data protection rules in the electronic communications sector. This derogation allows online service providers to detect online child sexual abuse on their services, as well as to report and remove it.
The Council’s decision to support the rules as amended by the European Parliament follows from the need to act swiftly and to fill the legal gap after the previous interim measure expired on 3 April 2026. The amendments adopted by the European Parliament were accepted by the Council in view of the specific purpose and limited duration of the interim regulation. The measure will be reinstated until 3 April 2028.
This will help bridge the gap until a new EU law offers a long-term legal framework for preventing and combatting online child sexual abuse. The Council and the European Parliament are currently negotiating these long-term rules. Today’s agreement will not prejudice the ongoing negotiations, to provide legal clarity and certainty for the long term.
