Malta Students Rebel Against EU ‘Chat Control’ Plan: ‘Our Nanna’s WhatsApp Is Not a Crime Scene’

University students huddled over laptops outside Valletta’s campus canteen are used to swapping memes, lecture notes and relationship gossip on Discord and WhatsApp. This week, however, the chat among the usual espressos and pastizzi crumbs has turned unusually political: a home-grown student coalition has launched Malta’s first national petition against the EU’s proposed “Chat Control” regulation, a sweeping law that would allow automated scanning of all private digital messages for child-abuse material.

“We’re not defending criminals, we’re defending the right of Maltese youth to speak without feeling a government algorithm breathing down their necks,” explains Sasha Cauchi, 20, vice-president of the University Students’ Council (KSU) and one of the petition organisers. In just 72 hours the online appeal—hosted on the Parliament of Malta’s official petitions portal—has gathered more than 3,500 signatures, propelled by Instagram stories, parish youth-group chats and even TikTok videos filmed on the Sliema ferries.

Why the uproar? The EU bill, tabled by European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, would compel providers of end-to-end encrypted services—think WhatsApp, Signal and iMessage—to either break their own encryption or deploy AI “upload filters” that scan images and texts before they are sent. Supporters say the measure is vital to combat child exploitation, but critics argue it turns every citizen into a permanent suspect and opens the door to mass surveillance. For Malta, the debate carries an extra sting: the island’s economy relies heavily on iGaming, crypto and fintech services that market themselves on privacy and watertight encryption.

“Malta hosts 10 per cent of the world’s gaming servers,” notes Dr. Louiselle Vassallo, lecturer in media law at the University of Malta. “If encryption is weakened, operators could relocate to Switzerland or the British Virgin Islands overnight. The knock-on effect on local jobs and GDP is potentially catastrophic.”

Cultural nerves are also being touched. Maltese society prizes tight-knit family networks where gossip in group chats often doubles as community news service. “My nanna forwards everything—recipes, funeral notices, photos of newborns,” laughs Raisa Borg, a 19-year-old psychology student who signed the petition. “The idea that a Brussels bot might read her messages about who’s dating whom feels like digital tal-pejt—like someone rifling through your laundry line.”

Archbishop Charles Scicluna entered the fray Wednesday, tweeting that while child protection is “non-negotiable”, methods must “respect the seal of confession and the sacred privacy of family life.” His intervention is significant in a country where 83 % still identify as Catholic and parish WhatsApp groups buzz with rosary reminders and bake-sale invites.

Government officials are treading carefully. Parliamentary Secretary for European Affairs Rebecca Buttigieg told Times of Malta that Malta “supports the intention” behind Chat Control but will seek “clarifications on proportionality.” Meanwhile, Opposition spokesman Joe Giglio warned that Labour MEPs should not “rubber-stamp” the law in Strasbourg. Both major parties now face pressure from first-time voters who will cast ballots in June’s European election.

Back at the KSU office, a whiteboard lists target milestones: 5,000 signatures by Friday, 10,000 by next week, a flash-mob in Republic Street timed to coincide with the European Parliament’s committee vote. Organisers plan to deliver the petition to Malta’s three MEPs—Alex Agius Saliba, Cyrus Engerer and Roberta Metsola—asking them to vote against the proposal or at least insist on judicial warrants before any scanning.

Whether Brussels will listen remains uncertain, but the campaign has already achieved one thing: it has politicised a generation more accustomed to posting holiday selfies than protest placards. As the KSU’s Cauchi puts it: “We grew up on Facebook; we know what it feels like when private chats leak. Chat Control is the next step—unless we stop it now, the Maltese concept of ‘hbieb ta’ vera’—true friends who guard your secrets—might become history.”

For an island that has spent centuries guarding its language, its fortifications and its identity against bigger neighbours, the fight over digital privacy feels like the newest chapter in an old story: how to stay open to the world without losing the right to whisper behind closed doors.