The Finnish Parliament's Constitutional Law Committee has announced it does not support a child sexual abuse material (CSAM) prevention model proposed by Hungary.
Hungary currently holds the EU presidency, and the country's proposal aims to oblige online service providers to detect, report and remove CSAM from platforms under certain conditions.
The suggestion has been widely criticised by tech messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal, data protection experts and other groups — as well as a majority of MEPs, according to technology news outlet TechCrunch.
FiCom, an ICT industry lobbying group, said that Hungary's proposal calls for users to "consent to checks on all the content they add".
"According to the proposal, the check would occur before the application of end-to-end encryption. Users who refuse to consent would be unable to send videos, images, or links through the service," FiCom explained in a press release at the end of last month.
Finland's Constitutional Law Committee said the Nordic country should not approve Hungary's proposal, over concerns that the tracking would be too broad. It said interference in secret or confidential messages should be as targeted and as limited as possible.
Other committees also critical
The constitutional committee's position echoed that of the Administration Committee, which issued a statement about the proposal on Tuesday. That body only partially supported Hungary's plan — which was revised following a compromise — saying that the regulation's rules on identification were a stumbling block.
Last month Parliament's Transport and Communications Committee unanimously rejected Hungary's revised proposal.
According to that committee's chair, Jouni Ovaska (Cen), if implemented, the proposal would amount to extensive mass communications surveillance and weaken the security of online services.
Ovaska added that such a regulation would also offer limited benefits for criminal investigations. He noted that the experts heard by the Transport and Communications Committee were very critical of the draft regulation.
The committees have submitted their opinions to Parliament's Grand Committee, which oversees EU affairs. It is expected to announce a decision on Finland's stance on the matter later this month.