CPJ welcomes Biden executive order limiting use of commercial spyware
Washington, D.C., March 27, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists has welcomed President Joe Biden’s executive order restricting the U.S. government’s use of commercial spyware tools. The order, issued Monday, prohibits executive departments and agencies from using the spyware if they determine it could pose significant counterintelligence or security risks to the U.S. government or be…
CPJ condemns Mexican military surveillance of activist’s communications with journalists
Mexico City, March 7, 2023 – In response to multiple reports published Tuesday stating that Mexican authorities surveilled human rights activist Raymundo Ramos’ conversations with journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “The revelations that Mexican authorities have continued to spy on activists, including their communications with reporters, is a…
New Report: Spyware poses an existential crisis for journalism and threatens press freedom around the world
New York, October 13, 2022 — The development of high-tech “zero-click” spyware – the kind that takes over phones without a user’s knowledge – has had a chilling impact on press freedom, finds a new special report released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The report, Zero-Click Spyware: Enemy of the Press, found the mere threat…
For Mexican journalists, President López Obrador’s pledge to curb spyware rings hollow
“Practically nothing.” RíoDoce magazine editor Andrés Villarreal spoke with a sigh and a hint of resignation as he described what came of Mexico’s investigation into the attempted hacking of his cell phone. “The federal authorities never contacted me personally. They told us informally that it wasn’t them, but that’s it.” Over five years have passed…
In India’s hardest-hit newsroom, surveilled reporters fear for their families and future journalists
M.K. Venu, a founding editor at India’s independent non-profit news site The Wire, says he has become used to having his phone tapped in the course of his career. But that didn’t diminish his shock last year when he learned that he, along with at least five others from The Wire, were among those listed…
In Morocco, journalists – and their families – still struggle to cope with spyware fears
By CPJ MENA Staff Last July, when the Pegasus Project investigation revealed that imprisoned Moroccan journalist Soulaiman Raissouni was selected for surveillance by Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, the journalist could only laugh. “I was so sure,” his wife Kholoud Mokhtari said Raissouni told her from prison. Raissouni is one of seven local journalists named by the…
Hungarian journalists targeted by spyware have little hope EU can help
Szabolcs Panyi was not even remotely surprised when Amnesty International’s tech team confirmed in 2021 that his cell phone had been infiltrated by Pegasus spyware for much of 2019. Panyi, a journalist covering national security, high-level diplomacy, and corruption for Hungarian investigative outlet Direkt36, had already long factored into his everyday work that his communications…
CPJ recommendations to protect journalists against spyware
The arbitrary or unlawful use of spyware technologies violates human rights and causes direct damage to journalists and their ability to report freely and safely. These recommendations are necessary to protect journalists and their sources. For all governments For the U.S. government For European Union institutions For companies For international organizations See CPJ’s 2021 policy…
David Kaye: Here’s what world leaders must do about spyware
In late June, the general counsel of NSO Group, the Israeli company responsible for the deeply intrusive spyware tool, Pegasus, appeared before a committee established by members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Called the PEGA Committee colloquially, the Parliament established it to investigate allegations that EU member states and others have used “Pegasus and equivalent…
MEDIA ADVISORY: CPJ to publish comprehensive report on the threat to journalism posed by zero-click spyware
New York — On Thursday, October 13 the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will publish a report on the global impact of malicious spyware on journalism. Coming one year after the Pegasus Papers first shed light on the scale and scope of how one company’s software was weaponized by government officials to target journalists, the…