Spain's PP and PSOE vote in full for Brussels access to private messages

The hall of shame: the MEPs who said yes to Brussels' snooping

For the third time in less than a year, the European Parliament has voted on a proposal that would allow Brussels to access citizens' private messages on social media. And for the third time, Spain's major parties have given it the green light. According to the voting records, the PP, PSOE, Junts and PNV backed the measure as a bloc, without a single defection. Not one MEP from these parties broke ranks.

The mechanism, presented as a tool against disinformation, would allow authorities to scan private communications without a prior court order. Critics see it as a back door to controlling the population, another step towards the surveillance state. But in the European chamber, party discipline carried more weight than individual freedoms.

---

A vote that needs no names

No individual lists are needed when the unanimity is so absolute. Every PP and PSOE MEP voted in favour. So did those of Junts and PNV. Nobody broke discipline. A third vote in one year suggests this was no mistake or oversight: it is a deliberate political line. The argument that "nothing voted for is undemocratic" clashes with the reality that the measure has been approved on three separate occasions, as if insistence could make surveillance seem normal.

What about the opposition?

Outside the government bloc, the parties that opposed it were the usual ones: Vox, Podemos, and some MEPs from small regional parties. But their resistance was not enough to stop the majority. The question that remains is how parties that present themselves as defenders of individual freedom in Spain end up voting for measures that restrict it at European level.

The striking figure: the proposal has now been approved three times in a row. The third time was the charm for the advocates of control, but not for those who still believe private messages should stay private.