Spyware, 11 organisations call on Brussels for urgent action

Brussels – Eleven civil society organisations, including Access Now, Amnesty International, Article 19 and the European Federation of Journalists, published an open letter addressed to the European Commission, calling for urgent action against the uncontrolled spread of spyware in Europe.

The letter denounces the absence of a common regulatory framework and points out how countries such as Italy, Spain, and Cyprus have become veritable hubs for the development and use of invasive technologies, as in the Paragon-Graphite case. Journalists, activists, and human rights defenders have been illegally surveilled, in violation of the fundamental principles of the rule of law.

The organisations demand that the Commission publish, without further delay, the communication that has been awaited for over two years on the boundaries between national security and fundamental rights, formally participate in the international ‘Pall Mall’ process on the regulation of spyware, implement the recommendations of the PEGA Commission, and relaunch the work of the Parliament to ensure concrete rules, protections and remedies for victims.

“As the Democratic Party,” says MEP Sandro Ruotolo, “we have taken the Paragon-Graphite case to Europe, because it is not a national issue, but a European attack on freedom of information. We are working to build a political majority to deal with this democratic emergency. Being spied on is not a technical problem; it is a violation of human rights. When the state—or whoever—knows everything about us, we are less free. And a society in which no one can speak, investigate, or dissent is no longer a democracy.”