Major European telecoms urge EU for faster CSAM content blocking

CEOs of major European telecommunications companies, including Vodafone, Orange, Telekom, and BT, have sent an open letter to European Union leaders requesting a clearer legal framework to combat Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).

The executives are seeking authorization to immediately block websites identified by trusted sources as hosting CSAM. They noted that while providers have the technical capability to block such content, they currently face regulatory and practical obstacles because the EU lacks a unified, unambiguous legal mandate for these specific actions.

The companies emphasized that any such legal power must be strictly limited to CSAM to ensure data privacy and fundamental rights, preventing governments from using the mechanism for broader censorship of other types of content.