Following the end of EU chat control: German Association of Judges demands mandatory IP address storage.

Berlin. Following the rejection of plans for EU-wide chat monitoring in the fight against child pornography, calls for national solutions are growing louder in Germany. While it is good that "the excessive plans for state-mandated chat monitoring in the EU have been scrapped due to pressure from the German government," Sven Rebehn, Managing Director of the German Association of Judges, told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND), the governing coalition must now act at the national level.

"Law enforcement agencies are urgently awaiting the long-announced legal requirement for the temporary storage of IP addresses," said Rebehn. "In cases of child pornography, the IP address is often the only, but always the fastest, investigative lead for tracking down suspects." Corresponding demands have already been made by the Federal Council, security authorities, and the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

On Friday, it was announced that the EU member states had failed to secure the necessary majority for the Commission's controversial plans to mandate, without cause, the monitoring of chats by companies like WhatsApp, Signal, and others for child pornography. EU diplomats in Brussels stated that the proposal would therefore be scrapped. Germany had also advocated for its cancellation.

The European Commission proposed as early as 2022 that chat messages should be automatically scanned for child pornography and then reported to law enforcement. Critics argued that the automatic and indiscriminate monitoring of innocent users would violate fundamental civil rights. Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) also expressed this view.

The German Association of Judges welcomed the rejection of the EU plans: "While it is right that the EU wants to decisively combat child abuse and a growing flood of child pornography on the internet," its head Rebehn told the RND, "it is equally important to proceed in a targeted and proportionate manner."

At the same time, German authorities and the judiciary often rely on IP data storage, which the center-right/center-left coalition had also announced in its coalition agreement. However, cabinet deliberations on a draft law are still ongoing.

At the EU level, a new compromise proposal is to be developed, relying on voluntary participation by companies and thus continuing an existing agreement with the services. Without a new agreement, this agreement would have expired in April 2026.