Vitalik Buterin Opposes EU Chat Control Law Citing Privacy and Security Risks Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has publicly voiced his strong opposition to the European Union’s proposed Chat Control law, arguing that the legislation would severely undermine digital privacy and create dangerous surveillance backdoors. His comments add a significant voice from the tech and cryptocurrency world to the growing debate over the regulation. The proposed EU Chat Control law aims to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, by mandating that digital messaging services scan all private communications, including text, images, and videos, for illegal content. Proponents argue that such sweeping measures are necessary to protect children in the digital age. However, critics like Buterin contend that the method of implementation poses a far greater threat to fundamental rights. Buterin’s primary concern is that the law would effectively break end-to-end encryption, a security technology that ensures only the sender and intended recipient can read a message. Services like WhatsApp and Signal currently use this encryption to protect user privacy. To comply with the law, these platforms would be forced to weaken their security protocols, creating vulnerabilities that could be exploited not just by governments, but also by hackers and malicious actors. He argues that this move does not just slightly reduce privacy but fundamentally dismantles it. By scanning every single private message before it is encrypted, the law turns personal communication channels into a mass surveillance apparatus. Buterin emphasizes that this approach sets a dangerous precedent, where the private conversations of every citizen are treated as potentially suspicious until proven otherwise. The Ethereum creator also pointed out the technical impracticality and security risks of so-called client-side scanning, where the scanning for illegal content happens directly on a user’s device. He and other security experts warn that this system is functionally equivalent to installing a government spyware on every person’s phone. Once such a system is in place, its scope could easily be expanded beyond its original intent, potentially being used to monitor for other types of content deemed undesirable by authorities. Buterin’s stance is that privacy and security are not privileges but fundamental rights that everyone deserves. He believes that the fight against serious crimes like child exploitation is crucial, but it must be pursued with methods that do not sacrifice the core privacy and security of the entire population. He suggests that such blanket surveillance measures are a disproportionate and ineffective response that ultimately creates more problems than it solves. His opposition aligns with that of numerous digital rights organizations, security researchers, and even internal agencies within the EU itself, who have raised alarms about the proposal. They warn that once these surveillance capabilities are built into our communication tools, the potential for abuse is immense and the erosion of privacy would be permanent. The debate over the EU Chat Control law highlights a central tension in the modern digital world: the balance between public safety and individual privacy. Buterin’s intervention brings a crucial perspective from a leader in decentralized technology, underscoring that building a safe digital future does not require sacrificing secure and private communication. The outcome of this legislative battle will have profound implications for the privacy rights of hundreds of millions of citizens and the future of the open internet.
