This is just the ~8 year old ICAP antivirus scanning system which Element has always had, built for government customer deployments who need antivirus, but implemented for Element X

https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-content-scanner

https://github.com/element-hq/matrix-content-scanner-python

etc.

This is nothing to do with ChatControl or Online Safety Act where you can see our position here:

https://element.io/blog/the-online-safety-bill-an-attack-on-...

What does "scanning" mean, in this context? Scan by a local antivirus? Scan by a local AI model that alerts the user to possible legal issues? Scan by a local government-mandated black-box model that blocks/censors messages? Scan and send suspicious messages to the police for further investigation?

I think it's related to https://github.com/element-hq/matrix-content-scanner-python, but that page also assumes the reader already knows what "scanning" means.

Do not use any software from the UK, the enemy of privacy and security.