The European Union (EU) has agreed that spyware and surveillance tools could be installed on the computers and phones of journalists to identify anonymous sources in the name of ‘national security.’
If journalists are under any form of criminal investigation, whether that be from murder to bicycle thefts or music piracy, European governments are now permitted to install “intrusive surveillance software” on their devices.
The legislation expands on legal “loopholes,” which permitted governments to install spyware on the personal devices for terrorism offenses.
However, France has criticized the intrusiveness of the measures, arguing it is “essential to strike a fair balance between the need to protect the confidentiality of journalists’ sources and the need to protect citizens and the state against serious threats … whoever the perpetrators may be.”
“The particularly exorbitant nature of this immunity raises questions,” argued a confidential French diplomatic document leaked to POLITICO.
A further 65 organizations, such as the European Digital Right (EDRi), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and several human rights groups, have written a letter to the European Commission demanding the proposed laws be scrapped.
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