Post B47dIaWn92ioQPpkrw by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
(DIR) More posts by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
(DIR) Post #B47cz475RBCQOIV8oS by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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Mass surveillance and censorship are escalating in many countries right now. There is a global attack on secure encrypted communication. Often, authorities, politicians, and tech companies work together to push for new laws. One example: when Ashton Kutcher (yes, the actor), through his tech company Thorn, tried to introduce total surveillance of all EU citizens through undemocratic and corrupt methods.
(DIR) Post #B47d2CYmUOcjSMwzui by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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First, Ashton Kutcher convinced the EU Commission that they could scan everything on an EU citizen’s phone or computer (messages, photos, emails, phone calls, all of it) for child sexual abuse material without, at the same time, looking at the content of other types of communication.And then?
(DIR) Post #B47d8bJbMZN7yFtys4 by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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And then EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson presented the legislative proposal called Chat Control, which aimed to scan everything on all EU citizens' phones and computers (including conversations in end-to-end-encrypted messaging services). The message from the Commission was: we will only search for child sexual abuse material (CSAM).And then?
(DIR) Post #B47d8wELbIeAq2ba64 by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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And then experts from all over the world explained to her that the kind of scanning she was talking about (as Ylva described it: a drug-sniffing dog that can detect illegal content in a message without reading the message) simply cannot be done safely, and that Chat Control would mean the end of privacy and pose a security threat to all Europeans. Ylva responded with: “what about the children?”And then?
(DIR) Post #B47dBM14hT9pOJY6Ea by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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And then it was revealed that Thorn, the organization founded by Ashton Kutcher and which had been lobbying for Chat Control from the beginning, was selling the kind of scanning technology that could be used for Chat Control – despite being registered as a charity organization in the EU’s lobbying registry.And then?
(DIR) Post #B47dElklT24s57Y4FE by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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And then it was revealed that Thorn, together with the EU Commission, had also started and funded “children’s rights organizations” that had supported the proposal. What appeared publicly to be charitable organizations were in fact lobby groups.And then?
(DIR) Post #B47dEmIRRp13lZIxjk by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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And then it was revealed that Europol wanted unlimited access and wanted to use the scanning for more than just child abuse crimes, saying that all data – also unfiltered and innocent material – should be stored because it “could at some point be useful to law enforcement”.And then?And then it was revealed that employees at Europol had joined Thorn, to lobby their old colleagues.And then?
(DIR) Post #B47dEmZ6RsLMbF6Ghs by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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And then politicians in Brussels wanted to exempt themselves from the scanning.And then?And then the European Parliament, in an almost historic consensus, voted against the proposal and called Chat Control nothing but mass surveillance. As one of the members of the parliament said: “The Commission wasn’t focusing on protecting children but wanted mass surveillance.”And then?
(DIR) Post #B47dIa2ex4cQuxjgu0 by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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And then The Council of the EU (law proposals must go through both the Parliament and the Council), after three years of negotiation, finally reached a common position on Chat Control. The requirement for mandatory scanning (including end-to-end encrypted messaging services) was removed, which is a major victory, but several problematic elements remain in the Council's position. For instance, the Council wants to demand ID Control to use messaging services (including end-to-end encrypted).
(DIR) Post #B47dIaWn92ioQPpkrw by mullvadnet@mastodon.online
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And then?And then, in 2026 the final negotiations began, between the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the EU. At the same time, the European Commission is working on a Plan B, through the initiative Going Dark/ProtectEU, where they once again try to force total surveillance (this time organized crime is the excuse) on the citizens of the EU.And then?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPzvUW8qaWY
(DIR) Post #B47gzQMP7gfrCo5nSy by cavallo_pazzo@toot.community
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@mullvadnet Thank you for the exhaustive explanation. 👍 It's sad that you had to waste your precious time on that.
(DIR) Post #B47kOsp4jlLCaAKoHQ by sihaha@norden.social
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@mullvadnet Tack så mycket! Hälsningar från Tyskland.
(DIR) Post #B47qZB2kRpajiH1PFo by InkomTech@infosec.exchange
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@mullvadnet (feeling like a pop-trivia idiot - even though I started at the top witg mention of Ashton Kutcher, the ‘and then?’ you kept saying didn’t <click> until this last note. 10 out of 10.)Grim, being supportive and respectful of Kutcher’s effort against human trafficking, but ‘oh, hell no’ at the intrusion and implausibility of this proposal.
(DIR) Post #B47qkLosipGgJwrcLw by maltita@neopaquita.es
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@mullvadnet I did not saw that coming
(DIR) Post #B47qnK7hUBePvb5FEO by maltita@neopaquita.es
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@mullvadnet christ on a bike
(DIR) Post #B47zwQ8ROzhSldqIoi by genziana@mastodon.social
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No to Chat Control and all of its forms!That's the kind of laws you get - and you constantly fight against - when you don't have real accountability as is the case in the Europan Commission (and most top EU institutions)@mullvadnet
(DIR) Post #B484oaw9rAsritBXF2 by Cosipa@social.linux.pizza
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@mullvadnet Great writeup, raising awareness on this is very important. Mullvad reporting thoroughly on this topic, I appreciate it.
(DIR) Post #B48BMgkhLG2nKTStxg by clintruin@mastodon.social
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@mullvadnet 🤦♂️ ffs#doomed
(DIR) Post #B48OZ06CXG5sDAixlI by Viss@mastodon.social
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@mullvadnet hell of a butterfly effect
(DIR) Post #B4HHtsnFwS5QNWVpjc by admin@mastodon.adtension.com
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@mullvadnet
(DIR) Post #B4LrymPzRilb2I6W4O by ildiavolorosso@sfba.social
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@mullvadnet NO AND THEN!
(DIR) Post #B4P9rEnIRUzNNIRFL6 by dasboe@mastodon.social
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@mullvadnet am I the only one missing the "and then and then and then" at the end? :)