Czechia seeks EU support against chat control proposal

Czechia will look for allies in the European Union to block a proposal that would allow monitoring of people’s online communication, Prime Minister Petr Fiala (SPOLU) said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The so-called “chat control” plan, drafted by the European Commission, aims to fight child pornography and child abuse. It would require providers of online services — from chat apps to cloud storage — to scan messages and files with algorithms and report suspicious material to authorities.

Mr. Fiala stressed that the government and the ruling coalition reject the plan as unacceptable. According to him, reading private communication would create huge risks of abuse and seriously endanger people’s privacy. He added that the fact that Hungary was the first to push the proposal should also raise caution.