In a remarkable turn of events, something interesting may have happened at the European Parliament. At a Brussels plenary on Thursday, MEPs voted on whether to keep a controversial loophole in the EU’s e-Privacy rules that lets major tech platforms read private messages, emails, and photos for criminal content. Since 2021, this carve-out from strict EU data protection laws has been justified as a tool to combat the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), but critics warn it risks normalizing mass surveillance.

Thursday’s drama came a week after MEPs narrowly ruled out blanket scanning of online messages, opting instead for targeted cases. In retaliation, center-right MEPs forced a follow-up vote. A last-minute amendment to ban automated snooping of unknown private content squeaked through. They won by just one vote. This means that, from 4 April, tech giants will be forced to stop indiscriminately scanning private messages, emails, and chats of EU citizens.

This is the latest stage of a drawn-out and intense debate raging within European countries regarding the trade-off between privacy and the power of the state to monitor criminal behavior. Oddly, however, no such debate about internet privacy seems to be occurring in Britain. In the UK, the idea that privacy could conflict with law enforcement is often dismissed as alarmist. That’s why both Labour and Conservative governments have rolled out sweeping laws forcing tech platforms to police users’ private conversations.

A key difference between Europe and Britain is that on the continent, privacy principles and a deep wariness of state surveillance still energize the Left. This is something almost lost among the British Left, where progressives are more likely to push for tougher rules forcing tech companies to monitor users’ activity, rather than protecting it.

Take Keir Starmer’s vow this week to tackle addictive features on social media, even hinting at a ban for teenagers on these platforms. Meanwhile, the Online Safety Act marches on, imposing strict rules that force tech companies to monitor UK users’ communications. On 7 April, just three days after the EU loophole closes, new requirements kick in, compelling platforms to flag potential harms to authorities. After criticism from the Trump administration, Starmer now faces the EU charting a different course, leaving him isolated on the global stage over the one issue he might have expected to lead on.

While digital regulation and online safety are not expected to fall within the scope of the Prime Minister’s reset with the EU, the divergence between British and European regulation is starting to look like an onerous one for technology companies. Automated monitoring will now become illegal when undertaken with regard to EU users, but compulsory when the service user is in the UK. The Government has previously been very crude in its descriptions of any British politician who opposes its maximalist approach to online safety. As a champion of closer integration with European regulation generally, Thursday’s vote in Brussels puts Starmer in an awkward position.

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Chris Bayliss is an independent consultant who works on energy infrastructure in the Middle East.

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