Konflikter mellan massövervakning och skydd av sexuella övergrepp på barn : En argumentationsanalys av rättigheter och demokrati som rör ”chat control”

Sammanfattning: The European Commission has put forward a legislative proposal titled Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse, also known as chat control. The legislative proposal has sparked a polarized debate. By using an argumentation analysis, this study aims to find out which rights are invoked and which arguments for and against the proposal are raised in the discussion on chat control. The study also aims to explore how chat control may impact freedom of expression and deliberative democracy. Advocates of the proposal argue that chat control will protect children from online sexual abuse and strengthen children's digital rights, while critics warn of privacy intrusions, threats to freedom of expression and digital mass surveillance.  The essay uses Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's theory on spiral of silence which explains that people tend to avoid expressing their opinions if their opinions are in the minority due to fear of social isolation. Digital mass surveillance can therefore lead to self-censorship online. The result is that the digital mass surveillance that chat control proposes affects the right to freedom of expression because certain opinions will be silenced. Iris Marion Young's deliberative democracy model explains that in democracies it’s important that everyone affected by arguments must be able to make their voice heard in order for a democratic decision to be considered legitimate. If people refrain from exercising their right to freedom of expression due to digital surveillance, then deliberative democracy is negatively impacted because decisions can no longer be deemed democratically legitimate.