As I write, European Union (E.U.) officials are debating the details of a proposal to either require or pressure tech companies to scan all private messages for child sexual abuse material. Dubbed " chat control ," the scheme inevitably entails mass surveillance of private communications—targeting one sort of content for the moment, though it's difficult to see how that would long remain limited in any way. It's an illustration of the continuing decline in online liberty documented in a new report from Freedom House.

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As the E.U.'s discussion over chat control heated up over the summer, Danish Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard, a proponent

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