The timeline is here

Currently Denmark pushing it, they hold the EU presidency at the minute. Their minister for justice - Peter Hummelgaard is responsible for the big push and the wording. Specifically trying to pull the wool over the general public.
Ireland are next (they take over in January)
And the minister for justice in Ireland (Jim O'Callaghan) is also in favour of it.

U.N. right to privacy

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - Right to privacy in the digital age

U.N. - Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Thank you.

But what groups are advocating for this? There is clearly a significant campaign behind this. It doesn't seem at all grassroots.

At a guess, I'd imagine big tech companies are lobbying as most of the information that they use comes from data gathering. Using data directly from texts etc. Leaves them open to court cases.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

The options are limitless to the politicians regarding money making opportunities pushing x,y and z through once our private correspondence and devices are being scanned.

For example, in years to come insurance companies could refuse to pay out on all sorts of claims using that data.
Doctor may have recommended you walk a mile a day and change your diet.
You don't do it, or just miss a day, your life insurance policy is voided.
Car crash not your fault, no payout because you missed something else etc.

I couldn't begin to to guess the amount of ways that this information could be used, but it's a complete u-turn from what the EU was saying only a few years ago

gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/

They still recommend using signal - but only internally.

Which in itself is bizarre.

And exempting themselves from being scanned is just showing what they really think.

The EU has let US tech giants run riot. Diluting our data law will only entrench their power

The GDPR is Europe’s defence against digital oligarchy and child harm. Deregulation plans are misguided, say Johnny Ryan and Georg Riekeles

^{Johnny Ryan (The Guardian)}

I'm trying to learn more about EU politics, and when something like this won't die after being beat down several times, in the US it's almost always some industry lobbying organization.

And a problem we have globally, is that there isn't an organized counter movement in the opposite direction (that privacy is a human right, that this isn't a path to security, that states need to be restrained and restricted in their tendencies towards authoritarianism).

Without that countermovement, it's almost inevitable something like this will pass as the lobbying organization can long outlive the current generation of activists or politicians who see the problems with something like chat control.

corporateeurope.org/en/2025/11…

Yes, that's the same with many things. No counter movement.

We will see how transparent it all is

transparency.eu/briefing-lobby…

Roll-back of digital rights prepared in secrecy | Corporate Europe Observatory

Today, the Commission published its proposal for ‘simplification’ of digital rules, a package intended to deregulate digital laws to support businesses.

^{Corporate Europe Observatory}

We have to be the ones that continue building the movement. Plenty of us already are but with each of us active, and getting others active-connected it will help so much. We all can way more in a healthy way get things done. Let's not make it easy for them at all.

Getting people to switch to Matrix, & Stoat for real-time collaboration.

Piefed for overview and more organization by having people doing.

Pixelfed, & Loops by Pixelfed for Live-Streaming Incidents.

Also, to stop them infecting people's minds with their virus

I agree. A proper counter movement is needed.

Big American corporations are heavily lobbying EU council and governments.
Transparency is not working, EU council are rolling back on GDPR, massively eroding our privacy, which is irreversible.

With the likes of Trump in charge the US are not trustworthy with any data. The data that they already take illegally is too much.

The UDHR article 12 is supposed to protect our privacy.

We need a counter movement big enough to scare the politicians when they start bending to the Big-Tech.
They are not in the least bit worried as things stand now.

Peter Hummelgaard (among others) and his arrogance does not seem even a little concerned about his position.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations

A milestone document in the history of human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. It has been translated into over 500 languages.

^{United Nations}