The Bottom Line: The EU is introducing mandatory indiscriminate monitoring of instant messengers from April 2028, requiring companies to conduct automated content screening.
Member States of the European Union have approved the decision to reintroduce indiscriminate chat monitoring. The mandatory monitoring of messaging services is set to come into force in April 2028.
EU Member States have agreed on the reintroduction of a mandatory indiscriminate monitoring obligation for chat communications. This requires operators of instant messenger services to automatically scan for suspicious content—regardless of whether there is a specific suspicion or judicial order in place.
For compliance officers, this means that companies operating or providing messaging services must adapt their technical and organisational measures accordingly. The implementation of such screening systems requires investments in infrastructure as well as clarification of legal responsibility between service providers and platform operators.
The implementation deadline is April 2028. Companies should already clarify with their legal departments and data protection officers during the planning phase how compliance with these new requirements can be reconciled with existing data protection obligations—in particular the GDPR—and which technical solutions can be lawfully deployed.
Source: www.golem.de · Published 23 July 2026
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