The European Union has published a draft law that will allow the bloc to spy on journalists, drawing harsh condemnation from MEPs, media and civil society groups.
Last week the European Council published a draft of the European Media Freedom Act, which would make it legal for national governments to put spyware on journalists’ phones if it was deemed necessary for the sake of national security.
However, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), which has over 300,000 members across 45 countries, accused the EU of showing “dangerous disregard” to press freedoms.
“EU governments want to authorise the spying of journalists and their sources on vague grounds of “national security”,” the group wrote in a statement.
“The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly rejects the position of the EU Council on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) and denounces a blow to media freedom, arguing that such legislation would put journalists and their sources even more at risk.”
EFJ Director Renate Schroeder accused the EU of “generating mistrust” by pursuing the law.
“We are disturbed about the dangerous loopholes in the Council’s position, which shows a disregard for media freedom principles,” he said.
“The national security exception in article 4 on the protection of sources and protection from surveillance technology is a blow to media freedom. It would put journalists even more at risk and creates in addition a chilling effect on whistleblowers and other sources. We know too well how the defence of national security is misused to justify media freedom violations.”
He added: “This EMFA was supposed to generate trust. The Member States are generating mistrust.”
Moreover, Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld described the draft law as “unacceptable.”
In ‘t Veld is known to be a prominent voice for free speech in Europe, after she filed a lawsuit in 2008 against the US Department of Homeland Security over data it had collected about her. She was also appointed by the EU to oversee an investigation into the use of Pegasus spyware on journalists, which she said was “eroding democracy.”
Speaking on the European Media Freedom Act, the Dutch MEP said the claim that journalists had to be spied on for security purposes was “a lie.”
“I think what the council is doing is unacceptable,” she said.
“It’s also incomprehensible. Well, it’s incomprehensible if they are serious about democracy.”
In addition to this, European Digital Rights (EDRi), a federation of NGOs relating to online protections, urged the Council to “reconsider” the plan, dubbing it “dangerous.”
“The council is taking dangerous steps towards legalising unacceptable forms of surveillance against journalists and their sources,” said Chloé Berthélémy, a senior policy adviser with the EDRi.
“In recent years, the proliferating attacks on journalists at the hands of governments, such as the Pegasus scandal in Hungary, the Predator case in Greece or the “Catalan Gate”, make it clear that fundamental rights and the health of our democracy are at stake if we don’t regulate surveillance power of states against journalists. That’s why it’s vital to address these points in the EMFA.”