Israeli journalists call for spyware exemption after Israel denies illegal Pegasus use
As Israel grapples with the aftermath of explosive allegations that police illegally spied on dozens of Israelis, the country’s journalists are calling to be exempt from possible future legislation to oversee surveillance of citizens through spyware. Israel’s justice ministry last month denied a report by Israeli tech site Calcalist about the allegedly unlawful use of…
‘The infections were constant:’ Julia Gavarrete among dozens of Salvadoran journalists targeted with Pegasus spyware
The day El Faro reporter Julia Gavarrete’s father passed away, her phone was infected with Pegasus spyware that could activate the microphone and camera, and read all her messages – one of multiple occasions her privacy was invaded with the tool over the course of several months. Gavarrete made this disturbing discovery while cooperating with…
CPJ joins statement condemning use of Pegasus spyware to target journalists in El Salvador
The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Salvadoran authorities to respond to the discovery of Pegasus spyware on cellphones belonging to at least 30 journalists in El Salvador, joining 14 organizations, media outlets, and individuals in a public statement available in English and Spanish. The statement identified “one of the most persistent and intensive…
Hungary’s Szabolcs Panyi on how Pegasus surveillance has hindered his reporting
It took five months for Hungary to acknowledge publicly that it had bought the Pegasus spyware allegedly used to hack the phones of hundreds around the world. In November, Lajos Kósa, a top official from Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, acknowledged the purchase in a media interview after a parliamentary meeting; Minister of the Interior Sándor…
‘A high-profile action’: Lawyer Douglas Jacobson on what U.S. export restrictions could mean for Israel’s NSO Group
On November 3, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it had imposed export controls on the Israeli NSO Group, saying the company “developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used these tools to maliciously target” journalists and others. The move represented a relatively new use for the Entity List for Malicious Cyber Activities, a…
Lawyer Apar Gupta: With Pegasus probe, India’s Supreme Court is pushing the government to answer to journalists
On October 27, India’s Supreme Court ordered a “thorough inquiry” into the government’s alleged use of Pegasus spyware to monitor journalists and others by secretly surveilling their cell phones. The Israeli company NSO Group, which created Pegasus, says it sells only to official law enforcement agencies. Journalists in India have been aware of the threat…
US blacklisting of NSO Group a welcome first step to curb spyware abuse
Washington, D.C., November 3, 2021 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the U.S. Department of Commerce’s addition of the Israel-based technology company NSO Group to the Entity List for Malicious Cyber Activities today. “CPJ welcomes the Department of Commerce’s decision to impose export controls on NSO Group for developing and supplying Pegasus spyware to…
‘There is no private life’: Three Togolese journalists react to being selected for spyware surveillance
When Komlanvi Ketohou fled Togo in early 2021, he left behind his home, his family, and his cell phone that the gendarmerie seized when they arrested and detained him over a report published by his newspaper, L’Independant Express. In July, Ketohou, who goes by Carlos, learned that the phone number connected to the device they…
Pegasus Project revelations show added layer of risk for corruption reporters
Exposing those who abuse power for personal gain is a dangerous activity. Nearly 300 journalists killed for their work since CPJ started keeping records in 1992 covered corruption, either as their primary beat, or one of several. The risk was reaffirmed this month with the release of the Pegasus Project, collaborative reporting by 17 global…
CPJ joins call for moratorium on surveillance technology targeting journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists this week joined more than 150 human rights groups and independent experts in calling on states to implement an immediate moratorium on the sale, transfer, and use of surveillance technology following revelations that NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has been used to spy on journalists around the world. The Pegasus Project,…