The Netherlands will abstain from voting on controversial EU plans to screen messaging apps for images of child abuse, justice minister David van Weel told MPs on Tuesday.

Van Weel said the privacy implications of scanning messages shared through platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Signal over privacy concerns were too great.

EU justice minsters are due to vote on a proposal put forward by Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, that would force platforms to install software to scan the encrypted messages for child pornography.

Van Weel said the amended plan did not go far enough to address concerns that privacy might be compromised. He added that the Dutch abstention means it is unlikely the proposal will become law when the vote takes place on October 11.

In a briefing to MPs, Van Weel said: “The Netherlands recognises the importance of combatting child pornographic material wholeheartedly.

“At the same time the cabinet thinks that too much remains unclear about the impact of the proposed measures.”

Risk of error

MPs and tech experts have long campaigned for a Dutch no-vote, arguing that not enough is known about how a scan would work.

The software to carry out the scan has not yet been developed and because of heavy messaging traffic even a small margin of error could lead to many people being falsely accused of disseminating indecent images of children.

GroenLinks-PvdA MP Barbara Kathmann, who called the proposal a dangerous “form of mass surveillance” welcomed the decision, although she would have preferred a no-vote.

“The blocking minority in the EU is standing its ground,” she told broadcaster NOS.