this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2025
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Chat Control didnt pass - they didnt even vote because they were afraid the result would be embarassing.

And we got told so many times, that EU now wants Chat Control. But it was a big fat lie.

EU is a democracy with different opinions, and when a small group of facists tries to read your chats, it does not represent the EU opinion.

But the whole media got you thinking so. Proving even on Lemmy, you and me are extremly prone to propaganda.

I quoted the article here with the news:

In a major breakthrough for the digital rights movement, the German government has refused to back the EU’s controversial Chat Control regulation yesterday after facing massive public pressure.

The government did not take a position on the proposal.

This blocks the required majority in the EU Council, derailing the plan to pass the surveillance law next week.

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[–] TORFdot0@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is this some sort of misguided patriotism? I don’t see what the propaganda we are supposedly falling for is. Is it not as equally accurate to say that public opinion and outcry led to it not coming to a vote? I think keeping that public outcry is important to defeat future attempts to undermine rights. Don’t think it can’t happen in the EU. It’s happening if the US

[–] themurphy@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago

I'm talking about all the opinions already made up, that EU wanted to take away encryption and give us chat control.

They didnt want that.

It's like saying Denmark wants to throw out all immigrants, just because a small minority is proposing it. They dont.

Democracy is just great for media outlets, because they can bandwagon stupid proposals.

[–] dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 42 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Maybe I don't understand, but the fact there is a vote for it (or even just talk about it) is enough for me to warrant everyones immediate action.

I'm glad the media got this to our attention asap, because we were able to react quickly (and stop this.. hopefully its stopped and wont continue or come back).

Edit: commented then read others, think ppl agree with this and they say it better than I have.

P.s. i really don't like this post and hopefully it doesn't change anyones mind about action on this type of stuff in the future.. we need action and to keep fightijg to keep our freedoms.

[–] ChogChog@lemmy.world 17 points 3 days ago

"let your motto be 'eternal vigilance is the price we pay for liberty.'"

Freedom dies in the silence of the many at the hands of the few. We must always be adamant with opposition, because it’s hard to undo what has been done. The easiest way to put the genie back in the bottle is never letting it out in the first place.

[–] 3abas@lemmy.world 28 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Jesus Christ, you think this will be the last attempt?

[–] BD89@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 day ago

There will be another one within 5 months.

[–] Tryenjer@lemmy.world 15 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

The fact that these guys even proposed (and more than once) something that so profoundly violates the fundamental right to privacy of European citizens is cause for great alarm.

OP's post seems like propaganda to me and of the lazy kind.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

What kind of nonsense is this writeup? Media "got to me"? Look, you see Denmark? You see how it's in support of chat control?

Yeah, that's my country. So it's a rather serious issue here.

[–] xodoh74984@lemmy.world 182 points 4 days ago

I believe it should be all over the media to ensure that it never passes. Democracy dies in darkness. Name and shame those who supported it.

[–] Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.works 143 points 4 days ago (4 children)

What kind of shit take is this?

Media made people aware of ongoing bullshit, people reacted and put pressure on their governments and somehow "media got to us"?

If anything it didn't pass because of media attention.

[–] Lfrith@lemmy.ca 43 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Yeah, keeping the public in the dark so people against it aren't there to voice their opinion is how these like this get passed. Media attention to inform the public was a good thing.

[–] vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 4 days ago

The kind of shit is called "ignoring dynamics and transient processes".

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[–] Mechaguana@programming.dev 29 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This is a terrible map, lumping neutral and opposed together? I am against chat control but ffs we don't need more misleading media with the internet already dying under waves of automated misinformation

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[–] Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 154 points 4 days ago (12 children)

Isn't this how liberal democracies are supposed to work? How exactly did "the media" get the better of "us"?

[–] Iheartcheese@lemmy.world 65 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Good thing happens.

wAkE Up ShEePlE

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[–] lowleekun@ani.social 21 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I guess op was pessimistic as was i and that's the narrative that was/kind of pushed: It is going to come in one way or another. Instead of: It is not going to win and if it is we are not going to accept it.

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[–] HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world 31 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If that graphic is accurate, the media didn't "get" anyone. Seems some countries are actually gun-ho with the elimination of privacy, and its a movement that doesn't die with one failed vote.

Y'all are getting too fucking comfortable. Authoritarianism is always around the corner, even when things feel safe.

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[–] artyom@piefed.social 92 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Proving even on Lemmy, you and me are extremly prone to propaganda.

What? LOL Who do you think is pushing said "propaganda" to make people fear Chat Control unnecessarily?

And we got told so many times, that EU now wants Chat Control. But it was a big fat lie.

It was demonstrably not a lie. There were so many regions in support of it that it was dangerously close to passing.

I'm thinking this post is the propaganda. Really really lazy propaganda.

Don't worry, it'll be back again in a few months with a new coat of paint.

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[–] ashughes@feddit.uk 86 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Not going to downvote this because the source article is useful, but OP’s take is ludicrous. Have we really reached the point where ALL media is propaganda?

It might be time to unplug society and plug it back in again.

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[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 70 points 4 days ago

"Because there was push back and the EU decided to not go forward with a vote and be embarrassed, that means they never really wanted it at all" is one of the dumbest takes I've heard in a minute.

[–] sauerkrautsaul@lemmus.org 95 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yeah... no.

Germany switched to opposed partially because people knew about it and contacted their representatives.

They contacted their representatives because they heard about it.. through the media.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I contacted my representatives in Spain and they gave two fucks about it, they still positioned as "in favour".

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[–] UnfortunateShort@lemmy.world 43 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Let's not protest terrible ideas to not embarrass facists (who may or may not be part of your/our government) or what's supposed to be the message here?

[–] Alaknar@sopuli.xyz 12 points 4 days ago (2 children)

The message here is: "don't believe when people start screaming that the EU is a fascist organisation that wants to subjugate the population".

Because there was A LOT of that online when Chat Control reared its head.

[–] scratchee@feddit.uk 17 points 4 days ago

The difference between a fascist government and a democratic government can be distressingly thin, something we should all be aware of by now.

In this case, the EU has just proven it is currently on the right side of that divide. When extremely unpopular and authoritarian ideas were considered, the public felt able to voice their disapproval and the government felt they had to listen. That is a crucial step. Good for you all.

Sadly it likely will continue to require major work to keep the public on guard against future attempts like this one, but that’s life.

[–] iii@mander.xyz 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

That's the same EU that mandates online de-anonymisation, punishable with up to a year in prison, as a last minute amendment to an unrelated CSAM-directive.

Some press releases: (1), (2), (3)

[–] Alaknar@sopuli.xyz 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Have you read the sources you posted?

Negotiations will now begin between the Parliament, the Council of the EU, which represents national governments, and the European Commission to determine the final shape of the law.

Nobody is mandating anything - yet.

Sure, it might end up like that, but - to date - the Commission has been rather sensible when it comes to such things. They also have the example of UK that shows that the law works against its intentions by driving people towards unregulated and more dangerous websites.

We'll see how it goes.

[–] iii@mander.xyz 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

That's simply how any EU directive works: EU decides what must happen, and it's up to the individual countries to put it into their respective laws.

That way people get angry at their federal government instead. Who can point their finger higher up. Who can then point to the countries specific implementation in their turn. It's a neat trick. Nobody's responsible for anything.

the law works against its intentions

When has that ever stopped a puritan?

[–] Alaknar@sopuli.xyz 3 points 3 days ago (6 children)

EU decides what must happen, and it’s up to the individual countries to put it into their respective laws.

Wow, it's so weird that the article you linked lied, then!

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[–] yakko@feddit.uk 63 points 4 days ago

Are you mad that people got mad? Anger is not a subtle political instrument, a win is a win.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

People here are very groupthink.

When Tesla was at like 250 in the stock market just six months ago, I said that the stock will recover very soon. But the groupthink here was totally agreeing with eachother that Tesla is gone forever, and people kept posting Elon doing nazi gestures and saying they are done.

Now, the stock is over 400. But no posts is made about that and how maybe the groupthink was completely wrong. Instead the next thing is ongoing.

We have evidence around us all the time how the group is completely wrong in their assumptions. Majority opinion is not right by default.

[–] tomalley8342@lemmy.world 51 points 4 days ago (1 children)

EU is a democracy with different opinions, and when a small group of facists tries to read your chats, it does not represent the EU opinion.

But the whole media got you thinking so. Proving even on Lemmy, you and me are extremly prone to propaganda.

This is what the EU democracy opinion was as of July 2024 BTW, before the "media got to you":

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[–] cley_faye@lemmy.world 38 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Good news. But I'm downvoting that post. OP's living in reverse crying-wolf land, it seems.

First, Chat Control got further than previous attempts, with a bigger scope than ever. Being worried about that is not the result of propaganda.

Second, a lot of countries where on board, including Germany. Stuff changed after lot of feedback. You can be cynical all you want arguing that "people's voice don't matter" and saying there's no causality there, but people made themselves heard, and thing moved. There's no telling what would have happened if they didn't.

The proposal being ultimately shot down (this time!) does not mean, at ALL, that it wasn't a very dangerous one.

[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago

This post reminds me of a bunch of the "y2k scare was a hoax and a waste of money!" stuff from back in the day. With a bunch of people not realizing how much shit was fixed and what massive success it all was.

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[–] BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world 39 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (5 children)

What a bizarre take. The EU council is backing down - they do want chat control but each time they propose it they meet resistance and back down. Then they come back again and try again.

To suggest the public reaction is overblown and media manipulation is bizarre. This is the 3rd or 4th time the EU has attempted to get this through. Just because they chickened out of a vote doesn't mean the politicians don't want this.

In a democracy votes happen. In the EU they keep resurrecting this terrible idea hoping to get it through but then backing away if they don't think they can win. They know if there was an actual vote it likely would put an end to his.

Also the EU council is the antithesis of a democracy. It is not directly elected - instead it's a club of the heads of states of all the countries in the EU. It just represents who happens to be in charge of each country, and gives equal weights to all those countries regardless of their population size. The EU has a Parliament but it's a fig leaf of democracy as so much power is held in bodies like the Council and the Commission (which is 1 post per state and horse traded not elected).

So please don't make this out as a sign that EU democracy works. If EI democracy was working properly they would have listened the first time, and they'd have moved to a directly elected system for the executive Council and commission years ago.

The EU gets too much of a free pass for "not being America" but it's got huge problems that need fixing to make it an actual democracy.

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[–] exu@feditown.com 43 points 4 days ago (7 children)

It didn't pass because people pressured Germany to reject it. If Germany had stayed undecided they would definitely have had a vote on Chat Control and potentially passed it.

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[–] mrductape@eviltoast.org 22 points 4 days ago

Troll post. Not falling for it. Bye.

[–] Tetsuo@jlai.lu 25 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

We will have to fight Chat Control again and again...

Mass Surveillance should be blocked at the constitutional level in all countries.

On another point, my country, France is in a very deep political turmoil right now, so thanks for the robust response of our German friends that was definitely critical. I wish we could have mobilized better in France but we are struggling to just have a working government right now...

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[–] RunawayFixer@lemmy.world 24 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Would the outcome have been the same without people in the media repeatedly bringing this to everyone's attention? Probably not, because there would have been no public pressure against it, while the shadow groups that want this would have still been lobbying the politicians.

Something bad is going to happen.
Some people advocate to stop that bad thing.
Even more people are holding their clutches that the bad thing might happen.
Because of public pressure, action is undertaken to prevent the bad thing from happening.
Thanks to those efforts, the bad thing is successfully averted.

Some random person: that bad thing was never going to happen, look at all those gullible people who were panicking over nothing, we could have just done nothing and the outcome would have been the same.

Also known as the "preparedness paradox": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preparedness_paradox

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[–] AnAnonymousApe@lemmy.ml 21 points 4 days ago

What an idiotic take on the issue.

[–] DandomRude@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago

I think you should never take these things lightly.

It's better to be too cautious than not cautious enough, especially since there are powerful interest groups that want mass surveillance.

The people don't want that, of course, but many politicians do, as evidenced by the fact that Palantir is being introduced in Germany, of all places, and completely illegally. This must be prevented, and the population has a role to play in this—for example, with petitions like this one, which already has more than 400,000 signatures: Trump software Palantir: Stop surveillance plans

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