Yesterday the EU Parliament voted on Chat Control. 314 MEPs voted to reject it. 276 voted to keep it. A clear majority of those who voted said no, and it wasn’t enough. The 360-vote threshold did exactly what it was designed to do.

Whatever the outcome, don’t look away now. Chat Control 1.0 is NOT mandatory scanning. It’s the expired ePrivacy derogation, the legal basis for platforms that choose to scan private messages. Voluntary.

Bad? A lot. Rejected in March. Expired in April. Resurrected in July via urgent procedure, on the last day before summer recess, when blocking it took 361 votes and every absent MEP counted as a yes. They didn’t win the argument. They changed the rules.

Why? Because the Council needed it to buy time and leverage for the real fight: Chat Control 2.0 (CSAR).
CSAR detection orders would let authorities force every platform to scan your private communications. Still stuck in negotiations. Still not law. Still stoppable.
That’s exactly why this is not the moment to tune out. This is the moment they’re counting on you to tune out.

So please, stay loud. The real battle is still ahead.