Agreement on Messenger Surveillance Reached

The government agreed on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers on the surveillance of messenger services in cases of specific threats. This was preceded by lengthy negotiations. ÖVP Interior Minister Gerhard Karner called the agreement now reached a "milestone in counter-terrorism in Austria." Surveillance should only be possible by order of a three-judge panel and under the supervision of a legal protection officer. However, not everyone in the NEOS is satisfied with this.

Government Agreed on Messenger Surveillance

If there are more than 30 applications per year, a special report must be made in the state police committee, a permanent subcommittee of the interior committee. This counters the accusation of "mass surveillance." The surveillance of threats should only take place "when it is absolutely necessary for the investigations," Karner emphasized at a press conference on Wednesday. The conditions for surveillance have been "deliberately very narrowly defined" because "we are not doing this for fun, but because we want the chance to confront terrorists on equal terms," said Karner.

SPÖ State Secretary for State Protection Jörg Leichtfried also agreed. Surveillance should only be used when there is imminent danger. However, it is clear: "This is an infringement of fundamental rights," and every intervention of this kind requires legal protection and protection against abuse, which is why harsh penalties are to be expected in cases of misuse. The draft, which went into review a few weeks ago, already contained "robust protection against abuse" and is now even more secure, according to the State Secretary.

"Strong Parliamentary Control"

NEOS club chairman Yannick Shetty saw it differently. They have always been in favor of a constitutionally compliant solution, but the ministerial draft did not meet these requirements, which is why they did not agree to it. "I am not aware of any other law that has been revised so comprehensively after the review as in this case." As party leader Meinl-Reisinger previously emphasized, he highlighted the "strong parliamentary control." Legal protection has been improved, so the legal protection officer now has twelve weeks instead of the initially planned two weeks to review it.

Furthermore, the legal text is so restricted that the software must be programmed in such a way that the limitation to messenger services alone is possible when evaluating the data. Every single file evaluated from a mobile phone through this measure can be viewed at any time by the legal protection officer. Additionally, additional full-time positions in the area of IT expertise for the legal protection officer have been agreed upon, and it has been established that once the legal protection officer has made their assessment and the software has been found, the interior minister will implement the regulation by decree and enable the Constitutional Court not only to review the law but also the software.

It was agreed that the parliamentary subcommittee would have the right to inspect the contract with the software provider. A "whistleblower platform" will also be set up, particularly for the Directorate of State Protection and Intelligence Service. "I believe that in almost no other European country - almost all of which have such measures - is there such strict legal protection." To counteract abuse, the penalty for misuse should be "significantly increased" before the software is put into operation in two years, so that there is a "general preventive effect" for officials who are given a "powerful tool." However, Austria will continue to maintain its veto against the EU chat control, Shetty noted.

Shetty Sees "No News Value" in Criticism from His Own Party

Not everyone in the Pink Rows is happy about it: Constitution spokesperson and Shetty's deputy Nikolaus Scherak announced in the Ö1 "Midday Journal" that he would vote against the proposal: "I am deeply convinced that NEOS, as a liberal party, cannot support such state surveillance software." The member of parliament Stephanie Krisper expressed her displeasure on Bluesky. She misses, among other things, proportionality and sees dangers due to security vulnerabilities. Shetty saw "no news value" in the criticism from his own party and referred to the free mandate.

"As the quarrels within NEOS show, it is clear: The federal Trojan is a dangerous wrong path," said Süleyman Zorba, the Green Party's spokesperson for digitalization. Compared to the first draft, which was criticized from several sides, there are "hardly any substantial changes." He doubts the constitutional legality: "We will examine both the draft and the possibilities of presenting it to the Constitutional Court in the coming days."

FPÖ General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz expressed himself even more sharply. He sees the draft as "nothing more than the entry into total digital surveillance of the population." According to Schnedlitz, surveillance measures would not make Austria safer: "While radical Islamists are allowed to continue expanding their parallel societies unchallenged, this surveillance measure clearly targets government critics. Karner, Stocker & Co obviously fear Telegram groups more than Islamist threats with knives in hand." Instead, he demands "a prohibition law against political Islam, an immediate asylum stop, real deportations, and a consistent remigration strategy."

"Neither constitutional nor proportional"

For the data protection NGO epicenter.works, the new draft is "neither constitutional nor proportional." The core problems of unconstitutionality - such as lack of independent control, lack of technical feasibility, and mass endangerment due to open security vulnerabilities - would still exist. Especially SPÖ and NEOS must ask themselves how "their voters can still trust them. In the election campaign, they fought against this surveillance measure, which they now defend after just a few weeks in government." In addition to universities, lawyers, judges, and civil society, the SPÖ-affiliated ÖGB and European Minister Plakolm also criticized the draft heavily - "although the latter had her critical statement subsequently removed from the parliamentary website," it was said in a release.

"There is still a lot of hard work ahead of us"

The legal basis for the surveillance of potential threats is to be decided in the plenary before the summer. This would create the foundation to tackle the technical implementation. Experts from home and abroad will be involved, and "the most modern technical means - which meet recognized international standards - will be procured." Karner emphasized: "There is still a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we will consistently follow through with the path we have taken."

Furthermore, this amendment is intended to create a separate possibility for the postponement of security police interventions or criminal police investigations for the area of responsibility of the constitutional protection, as noted in the cabinet presentation. The strict assignment of the extended danger research to the observation of a group to the part of the DSN responsible for the intelligence service could, despite the establishment of an information interface, hinder a rapid, appropriate, and efficient fulfillment of tasks in certain cases. Therefore, a time-limited legal basis is to be created so that the DSN director can authorize the intelligence service to perform a task in individual cases, under specified criteria and reporting obligations. The practicability of this regulation is to be evaluated after three years. The measures are to be implemented with the resources available to the Ministry of the Interior, and no additional requirement for the federal budget is necessary.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.