Privacy is not up for negotiation.

Scanning private messages

An EU regulation of 24 July 2026 lets messaging and email providers voluntarily scan private communications for child sexual abuse material. It applies until 3 April 2028. Providers may scan; they are not required to. The regulation excludes end-to-end encrypted communications and says it must not be read as weakening end-to-end encryption.

The permanent law, known as "Chat Control", is still being negotiated. After a round of talks on 29 September 2026, the EU institutions had not agreed on scanning private messages.

Sources: Regulation (EU) 2026/1881, netzpolitik.org, Brussels Record

EU KIDS Act: age checks to open an account

On 17 September 2026 the European Commission proposed the EU KIDS Act. Under the proposal, children under 13 could not use social media, and children aged 13 to 14 could only use a limited "mini account" managed by a parent or guardian, with a one-hour daily limit. Social media and video-sharing services would have to verify age when a new account is opened, and app stores would also have to check ages. The Commission says the checks can use tools that protect privacy, such as the EU age verification app, which does not retain identity documents or biometric data. It is a proposal only: the European Parliament and the Council still have to negotiate and decide on it.

Sources: European Commission, 17 Sep 2026, EU proposal page

Secret orders aimed at encryption

It was reported that the UK Home Office ordered Apple in early 2025 to give it access to encrypted iCloud data, using a secret "technical capability notice". The UK government neither confirms nor denies that any such notice exists. In October 2025 the Financial Times reported that the first notice was withdrawn and a second one applied to UK users only.

Apple has since brought a second challenge to these powers at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. At a hearing on 17 September 2026, Liberty and Apple argued the secrecy should end. The Tribunal's decision on that was still pending as of 22 September 2026.

Sources: Liberty, 22 Sep 2026, Reuters, 17 Sep 2026, BBC, 4 Aug 2026

Online Safety Act: age checks and a power to scan private messages

The UK Online Safety Act's child safety duties have been in force since July 2025. Ofcom says user-to-user services that allow content harmful to children, and all publishers of pornography, must use "highly effective age assurance".

Section 121 of the Act also lets Ofcom, if it considers it necessary and proportionate, give a service a notice requiring it to use "accredited technology" to identify child sexual exploitation and abuse content, "whether communicated publicly or privately", and take it down. The same section covers terrorism content communicated publicly.

Sources: Ofcom, age assurance, Online Safety Act 2023, section 121, UK Government

Blocking messengers, pushing a state app

On 11 February 2026 Russia's internet regulator Roskomnadzor removed WhatsApp from the national domain name system, and the Kremlin confirmed the block. Telegram was slowed down and fined. Russia is promoting a state-backed messenger, Max. The Kremlin says the block is because Meta did not comply with Russian law. WhatsApp called it an attempt to isolate over 100 million people from private and secure communication.

Sources: BBC, 12 Feb 2026, RFE/RL, 12 Feb 2026, CNBC, 12 Feb 2026

Accounts tied to age checks

Since December 2025 Australian law requires social media platforms to take reasonable steps to stop under-16s from having accounts. Platforms can be fined for failing to. In September 2026 Parliament passed a bill that doubles the maximum penalties and gives the eSafety Commissioner more power to demand documents from platforms. Rules like this push platforms toward checking the age of every user.

Sources: Australian Government, Parliament of Australia (Bills Digest, 14 Aug 2026), MLex, 14 Sep 2026

Government asked operators to prepare to cut social media

On 22 October 2026 French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reportedly wrote to the four big mobile operators asking them to be ready to block TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and X during the 24 October protests, using DNS filtering. The letter was published by the outlet Blast. POLITICO reported that officials did not deny it. No block was triggered. President Macron said on 28 October that the government had not considered cutting social networks.

Background: in April 2025 France's Conseil d'État ruled that the May 2024 TikTok block in New Caledonia was unlawful, while saying such a block can be legal in exceptional circumstances under three conditions.

Sources: Blast, 24 Oct 2026, POLITICO, 27 Oct 2026, L'Esprit FR, 29 Oct 2026, Conseil d'État, 1 Apr 2025, franceinfo La 1ère

Faster removal of posts about the riots

After the riots of 17 and 18 October 2026, the French government put forward an amendment to its "casseurs-payeurs" bill, which concerns compensation for damage caused in protests. On 27 October the Senate adopted it by 219 votes to 115. It extends the powers of the administrative authority, working through the Interior Ministry's Pharos reporting platform, to ask websites and hosting providers to remove content that is likely to cause serious public disorder and that incites violence or insurrection.

According to franceinfo, if the National Assembly adopts the text, platforms would have 24 hours to remove such content or face "blocking" or "delisting". The bill has passed the Senate but is not law yet; it still goes to the National Assembly.

Sources: Senate text, 28 Oct 2026, Senate vote record, franceinfo, 28 Oct 2026, Next, 28 Oct 2026

A proposed tax on data sent to internet users

On 30 October 2026 the French National Assembly adopted amendment I-1358 to the 2027 budget bill, by 11 votes to 10. It would charge content providers 0.055 euro per gigabyte of data sent to internet subscribers in France, capped at 15% of their French turnover or 2% of their total turnover. The government opposed it. It is not law: the budget bill is still going through Parliament, with the Senate still to come, and two deputies who voted for it have said they pressed the wrong button.

Sources: Assemblée nationale, amendment I-1358, Le Figaro, 30 Oct 2026, Capital, 3 Nov 2026