The Netherlands has voted against a long-debated EU proposal to curb the spread of online child abuse images, but a majority of member states backed the watered-down measure in the Council of the European Union on Wednesday.

The law aims to stop the distribution of online child abuse material. The European Commission’s original plan would have required global tech companies to identify and remove online child sexual abuse but has now been scaled back to a voluntary measure following campaigning from tech firms such as Meta.

Anti surveillance and privacy activists had also called for a rethink.

Under the new rules, online service providers will be required to assess the risk that their services could be misused for the dissemination of child sexual abuse material or for the solicitation of children.

They will then have to implement mitigating measures to counter that risk but it will be up to national governments to assess and enforce these measures and assessments.

Dutch MPs voted in favour of a GroenLinks-PvdA motion calling on the Netherlands to vote “no” earlier this week because they are concerned the voluntary scanning could ultimately become mandatory and about the privacy implications.

Caretaker justice minister Foort van Oosten had urged MPs not to call for a no vote. He says the proposal also contains useful measures, including the creation of a European reporting point to support member states and tech companies in implementing the law.

Victims will also be able to contact the centre, which will share information with national police forces and Europol.

The law will not take effect yet and still requires approval from the European parliament and further negotiations on its final content.