Commission president describes use of NSO spyware against journalists as ‘completely unacceptable’

Asked about the revelations of the use of spyware by governments to spy on opposition and critics, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the situation as “completely unacceptable”, adding that media freedom was an EU core value. 

A Paris-based investigative journalism outlet, Forbidden Stories, carried out an investigation, in co-operation with several newspapers on an Israeli company, NSO, which has sold military-grade spyware called ‘Pegasus’ to clients in more than 50 countries since 2016.

Forbidden Stories found that the company licensed spyware to governments to surveil critical NGOs, business people, journalists and opposition leaders. 

Hungary

One of the governments identified is Hungary, where the technology has been used to monitor critical investigative journalists, city mayors from opposition parties and lawyers.

300 Hungarian targets were identified by Telex.hu including: four journalists (Direkt36, HVG.hu and one who has chosen to remain anonymous), a Hungarian photographer who collaborated with an American journalist covering the move by Russia’s International Investment Bank (IIB) to Budapest and the decision to grant immunity to the bank’s employees, and Zoltán Varga, owner of Central Media Group who has been critical of the government, among others.

While Telex.hu writes there is no clear proof that the Orbán government employed the software, accusations against the government are very strong given that NSO asserts that it only offers its services to national authorities.

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