The governments of the European Union (EU) are ready to allow spying on journalists and their sources if it is “justified for security reasons”. This conclusion was reached by consortiums such as Investigate Europe, Netzpolitik.org and Follow the Money, which had access to the documents of ongoing negotiations.
According to Público, the new European Press Freedom Act aims to protect professionals and the media from situations of control, restrictions on freedom of expression and pluralism, whether of a political or economic nature, through Article 4 of the Press Freedom Act. bill submitted in September. This prohibits, for example, the use of coercive measures, the use of “software” for espionage, or the monitoring of electronic communications by journalists. However, during the negotiations, which are taking place behind closed doors, France asked to cancel this article in the name of national security.
At the same time, the French defend, the law should allow the use of espionage tools, including computer ones, against journalists. The governments of Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Greece openly supported France’s position. Portugal, like other EU governments, raised no objections. But the European Parliament has already set up a special commission of inquiry, in addition to demanding a complete ban on the sale of spying “software” until the law clearly defines in which exceptional cases member states can use it. The European Federation of Journalists guarantees that the current proposal of the European Council “does not contain any provision for the protection of fundamental rights”.