Under new European Commission laws, Google, Meta, and other Internet service providers would be compelled to discover and delete child pornography from the internet, a move that some privacy advocates fear may put people's communications at danger.
Companies who do not follow the requirements may face fines of up to 6% of their annual revenue or global sales, as determined by EU nations.
According to the European Commission, the proposal, which was unveiled on Wednesday (11 May), wants to replace the present system of voluntary detection and reporting by businesses, which has proven insufficient to safeguard minors.
He identified the Covid-19 epidemic as a reason in a 64 percent spike in such claims in 2021 compared to the previous year, citing more than a million allegations of child sexual abuse in the 27-nation bloc in 2020. Furthermore, EU servers house 60% of all child sexual assault content worldwide.
The commission found in a statement statement "the current proposals put a responsibility on relevant internet service providers to examine the risks of their services being used to spread molestation material or to solicit adolescents."
Companies must then report and remove any known and new images and videos, as well as any instances of grooming. A European Union Center on Child Sexual Abuse will be developed to act as a resource center and to refer allegations to law enforcement.