Adopted text, 11 March 2026
Amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 as regards the extension of its period of application
Document TA-10-2026-0070 · P10_TA(2026)0070 · PE784.310
- Adopted in plenary on Wednesday, 11 March 2026 · Passed 458 for, 103 against, 63 abstained · See the decision →
- Where the law stands · dossier 2025/0429 →
AI:In short
Parliament's amended version of the proposed regulation extends the application of Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 until 3 August 2027 and tightens conditions for detecting online child sexual abuse material.
Key points
- Extends the period of application of Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 until 3 August 2027 instead of 3 April 2028.
- Limits the detection technology to known online child sexual abuse material, excluding solicitation of children from the scope.
- Requires that detection measures are not applied to communications with end-to-end encryption.
- Requires that detection be targeted, specified, and limited to individual users or groups with reasonable suspicion, identified by a competent judicial authority.
- Requires technologies to be least privacy-intrusive and, when scanning text, only detect patterns, not deduce content substance.
- Restricts detection of solicitation or previously unidentified abuse material to cases with a concrete report from a user, trusted flagger, or public interest organisation.
Who is affected
- Providers of interpersonal communications services subject to Regulation (EU) 2021/1232.
- Users of such services, who gain protection from scanning of encrypted communications.
Figures and deadlines
Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
Full text
Text 27 paragraphs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Amendments adopted by the European Parliament on 11 March 2026 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 as regards the extension of its period of application (COM(2025)0797 – C10-0370/2025 – 2025/0429(COD))
(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)
Amendment 1
Proposal for a regulation
Article -1 (new)
Regulation (EU) 2021/1232
Article 3 - paragraph 1 - point a
| Present text | Amendment |
|---|---|
| Article -1 | |
| In Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1232, point (a) is replaced by the following: | |
| (a) the processing is: | (a) the processing is: |
| (i) strictly necessary for the use of specific technology for the sole purpose of detecting and removing online child sexual abuse material and reporting it to law enforcement authorities and to organisations acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse and of detecting solicitation of children and reporting it to law enforcement authorities or organisations acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse; | (i) strictly necessary for the use of specific technology for the sole purpose of detecting and removing known online child sexual abuse material and reporting it to law enforcement authorities and to organisations acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse; |
| (ii) proportionate and limited to technologies used by providers for the purpose set out in point (i); | (ii) proportionate and limited to technologies used by providers for the purpose set out in point (i); |
| (iii) limited to content data and related traffic data that are strictly necessary for the purpose set out in point (i); | (iii) limited to content data that are strictly necessary for the purpose set out in point (i); |
| (iv) limited to what is strictly necessary for the purpose set out in point (i); | (iv) limited to what is strictly necessary for the purpose set out in point (i); |
| (v) not applied to interpersonal communications to which end-to-end encryption is, has been or will be applied; |
Amendment 5
Proposal for a regulation
Article -1 a (new)
Read the rest (15 paragraphs)
Regulation (EU) 2021/1232
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a – point i a (new)
| Present text | Amendment |
|---|---|
| Article -1a | |
| In Article 3(1), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2021/1232, the following point is inserted: | |
| “(ia) targeted, specified and limited to individual users, a specific group of users, either as such or as subscribers to a specific channel of communication, in respect of whom there are reasonable grounds of suspicion for a link, even an indirect one, with child sexual abuse material, and which have been identified by the competent judicial authority;” |
Amendment 2
Proposal for a regulation
Article -1 b (new)
Regulation (EU) 2021/1232
Article 3 - paragraph 1 - point b
| Present text | Amendment |
|---|---|
| Article -1b | |
| In Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1232, point (b) is replaced by the following: | |
| (b) the technologies used for the purpose set out in point (a)(i) of this paragraph are in accordance with the state of the art in the industry and are the least privacy-intrusive, including with regard to the principle of data protection by design and by default laid down in Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and, to the extent that they are used to scan text in communications, they are not able to deduce the substance of the content of the communications but are solely able to detect patterns which point to possible online child sexual abuse; | (b) the technologies used for the purpose set out in point (a)(i) of this paragraph are in accordance with the state of the art in the industry and are the least privacy-intrusive, including with regard to the principle of data protection by design and by default laid down in Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and, to the extent that they are used to scan text in communications, they are not able to deduce the substance of the content of the communications but are solely able to detect patterns which point to possible online child sexual abuse, and, where such technologies are used for the detection of solicitation of children or previously unidentified online child sexual abuse material, such use shall be limited to cases where the provider has received a concrete report or notification from a user, a trusted flagger, or an organisation acting in the public interest against child sexual abuse concerning a specific communication, account or interaction indicating a reasonable suspicion of online child sexual abuse, and the detection shall be strictly limited to what is necessary in relation to that reported case. |
Amendment 3
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1
Regulation (EU) 2021/1232
Article 10 - second subparagraph
| Text proposed by the Commission | Amendment |
|---|---|
| It shall apply until 3 April 2028. | It shall apply until 3 August 2027. |