When drafting a message:
Use the native language you and/or your MEPs speak.
You can use "Chat Control" to refer to the bill, but it's official name is misleadingly CSAR (makes it incredibly hard to talk about it online when the words making up the abbreviation will get your social media post hidden!)
DO NOT USE AI. Speak from the heart, Sincere, honest and POLITE.
A short, genuine message goes further.
If you have a personal story or concern you are comfortable sharing, it can be helpful to share it (you can edit it out from the version you send me if you do not wish me to read it).
You can also find templates and help in drafting your message from your local EFF or other privacy and human rights activists and organizations. Most have social media account you can ask for help, and even ready-made templates you can use in your own language. IN MY OPINION, it is better you use your own words, as long as you stay polite. DO NOT CUSS or directly threaten. You CAN threaten to stop voting for them, but being impolite or cussing will get your message directly in the trash bin.
TO CONSIDER DEPENDING YOUR COUNTRY'S POSITION:
Opposing: Thank your MP for being on the right side of history and caring about their citizen's safety and national security of your country. Congratulate them on catching up on the misleadingly named bill and what it actually dows. Politicians rarely get positive feedback, and it will ensure they stay opposing.
You can also ask them questions: How can I support you further? Is there anything I can do to help get other countries to oppose as well?
Supporting & Undecided: Make pleas for them to oppose. You know your politicians better, choose an angle they care about - whether it's personal privacy or national security; saving democracy or pointing out the law claiming to save kids actually puts them in danger. For places with history of oppression and mass state surveillance (Spain with Franco, eastern bloc with Soviet union f.ex) it would not hurt to remind your politicians). Make sure they understand the bill has a purposefully misleading name and that they should actually read the proposition beyond the headline to understand it does not do what the headline claims.
When emailing MEPs:
- DO NOT use mass emailing! NO CC! It can be tempting, but those messages are likely to go to spam folder.
- Prioritize sending messages to those in charge and/or who you actually voted for if you don't have time to message everyone
- Remember, that your message will be read by their assistant first. Make your message they want to take to the actual MEP.
