EU Extends Mass Surveillance of Private Messages on Facebook, Instagram, Gmail, and Xbox Until April 2026

Never fully trust any “voluntary” nature regarding “voluntary codes” – involving massive corporations and nations states, or, in this case, a transnational organization like the EU.

Usually, these are little else than an opportunity for those who have a lot to lose (in this case, Big Tech) to do some self-censorship and/or speech curtailing in general – before the government/government-like regulators step in to punish them for not being properly aligned with their policies. And, indeed, politics.

It’s obvious why both sides would likely play along. Governments don’t want to show their authoritarian sides, and corporations don’t want to lose money.

Here, we have the EU – the European Parliament (EP) to be precise – apparently hard at work to make sure some of the biggest US-based players – Facebook, Instagram, Gmail, even Xbox – continue with mass surveillance of private messages for another two or so years – April 2026 being cited as the new end-date.