European Commission Investigates Pegasus Affair

The European Commission has decided to launch an investigation on the Pegasus Project.

An investigative consortium formed by Forbidden Stories, Amnesty International and 17 media organisations revealed on Sunday that at least 10 governments had allegedly employed military spyware for illegal surveillance of journalists, lawyers, businessmen and members of civil society, Euractiv.com reports.

“We are starting to collect information to see what are the possible uses of such a kind of application in one of those member states. We have seen the comments in the press about that,” said Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders on 20 July. Reynders added that the Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) will coordinate the work, which will also be informed by investigations from judicial authorities and data protection watchdogs.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that if the allegations were verified, it would be “completely unacceptable.”

The government of Hungary is also accused of having used the Pegasus software. Budapest denied any wrongdoing. “Hungary is a democratic state governed by the rule of law, and as such, when it comes to any individual it has always acted and continues to act in accordance with the law in force,” a representative of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office told the Washington Post.