On 04.05.2023 INHOPE organised a high-level roundtable in Brussels to provide EU legislators a better insight into the role and value of hotlines in rapidly detecting and removing child sexual abuse material. This event was organised in light of the new CSA Regulation proposed by the European Commission last year.


The roundtable was led by INHOPE Executive Director Denton Howard who together with Peter-Paul Urlaub from eco, Yves Goethals from the Belgian Federal Police and David Miles from Meta discussed the implications of the proposed CSA Regulation on the future of cooperation between hotlines, law enforcement and industry. During this event, policymakers had an opportunity to learn more about the effective and efficient cooperation mechanisms that are already in place between the three key stakeholders and to reflect on how the proposal can better leverage the capabilities of hotlines.

Peter-Paul Urlaub explained the operational side of the German hotline eco and presented the 2022 hotline statistics. Both Yves Goethals and David Miles stressed the importance of hotlines and highlighted the accuracy of reports submitted by hotlines which allows them to respond to CSAM and CSA more rapidly. It was emphasised by Denton Howard that, whilst INHOPE fully supports the proposed Regulation and the establishment of an EU Centre, changes need to be made to the proposed legislation to guarantee that INHOPE hotlines can continue to efficiently contribute to the fight against CSAM.