ELLAK Cyprus will host an online briefing session on September 11, 2025, to unravel the implications of the EU’s proposed Chat Control Regulation, officially known as the Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse (CSAR).

ELLAK Cyprus is dedicated to promoting Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS), as well as open technologies and digital rights.

The session, scheduled for 19:00 EEST via an online platform, aims to deliver technical clarity, assess legal implications, and foster open, evidence-driven dialogue that can guide policymakers towards solutions that protect children while preserving digital privacy.
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ELLAK Cyprus explained that the CSAR initiative seeks to combat online child sexual abuse by imposing mandatory detection, reporting, and removal obligations, (potentially even affecting encrypted services through client-side scanning) in which content is analysed on the user’s device before encryption, thereby bypassing end-to-end security.
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The regulation raises urgent questions about the balance between child protection and fundamental digital rights such as privacy and encryption, they added.
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The briefing is timed to inform Cyprus’ position ahead of critical EU decision points: EU Member States are expected to finalise their positions in Council working groups on September 12, 2025, followed by the earliest possible Council vote on the legislation on October 14, 2025.
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ELLAK Cyprus said the session is open not only to experts but also to policymakers, parents, educators, technologists, entrepreneurs, and civil society groups.

They emphasised that good policy emerges from inclusive dialogue and invited attendees to raise questions, share concerns, and help map both opportunities and risks.
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The event will feature Theodotos Andreou, a system administrator at Collabora and Cyprus University of Technology, who is also a founding member of UbuntuCy and the Cyprus FOSS Community.

He is involved in promoting digital rights and open-source software within Cyprus.