April 30 – Yesterday, the European Parliament and the Council came to an agreement on the proposed interim legislation regarding the detection of child sexual abuse online by communications services. ECPAT International has been fighting for this important decision, which allows companies temporary legal right to continue scanning messaging platforms for child sexual abuse material, grooming behaviour, and the use of “classifiers” to detect images not yet determined to be child sexual abuse material (but likely to be). On the 28th of April, we sent a letter (Click to read the ECPAT Position Statement) to the leaders of the European Union urging them to ensure children are at the forefront of their agenda and outlining key actions to consider. The now decided suspension is valid for three years. Now is the time to adopt this as long-term legislation.