Austria's government agrees: Messenger monitoring starts soon!

Austria's government agrees: Messenger monitoring starts soon!

Österreich - The Austrian federal government has agreed after intensive negotiations on a regulation for monitoring messenger services. This agreement is described as significant progress in terrorist defense. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) described the decision as the "milestone of the terrorist defense in Austria". The measures are in particular geared towards concrete hazards, in particular on crisis cases where security and public order are at stake.

The new regulation stipulates that the monitoring of Messenger services may only be carried out according to the order of a three-judge senate and under the control of a legal protection officer. In the future, this will have twelve weeks to check the proposed software, instead of two weeks before. In addition, special reports must be created in the responsible investigation committee for over 30 applications per year.

prerequisites and regulations

The conditions for surveillance are deliberately closely set. Security authorities may only fall back on monitoring if it is absolutely necessary for the investigation. A review is also ensured by a legal protection officer who is intended to ensure that abuse, such as against journalists or other critical voices, is punished with hard punishments. The prerequisites include, among other things, that the crime must be punished with a prison sentence of at least ten years.

The legal basis for surveillance should be decided in the plenum before summer. Internal experts from home and abroad are included in the technical implementation. It is ensured that the software for monitoring is programmed exclusively on messenger services and no other private data is recorded.

criticism and security concerns

Despite these security measures, there is a variety of criticism from the opposition. Representatives of the NEOS, FPÖ and Greens expressed concerns and pointed out that the measure could not meet the requirements of the constitution. Neos club chairman Yannick Shetty emphasized that the original ministerial design was constitutionally questionable. The data protection officer Epicenter.Works also expressed doubts about the constitutional conformity of the draft law.

A whistleblower platform for the government of State Protection Intelligence Service should also be set up in order to recognize potential abuse early. The penalties around abuse of office are also to be tightened in order to fold out civil servants in the event of misconduct. It is planned that the sentence for abuse should be significantly increased in two years.

5min reports on the results of the Council of Ministers, while The press highlights the background and Kurier summarizes the security aspects and concerns.