EU set to approve the use of spyware to uncover confidential journalist sources ‘in the name of national security’

• Law would let governments spy on journalists in the name of national security
• Press freedom campaigners warned the law would have a ‘chilling effect’ 

The European Union is set to approve new laws that would let governments spy on journalists in the name of national security. 

The legislation would expand legal ‘loopholes’ that let governments install spyware on journalist’s phones and computers, including British reporters working in the EU, press freedom campaigners warned.

The draft legislation, that has now been agreed upon by Brussels ambassadors, extends the ‘national security’ exemptions beyond those covered under terrorism and threats to national security.

It would let EU government’s use a broad array of crimes, ranging from murder to theft to music piracy, as legal justification for using ‘intrusive surveillance software’ on reporters.

Press freedom advocates warned the last-minute changes demanded by France to could ‘open the door to all sorts of abuses’. 

The EU is set to approve new laws that would let government’s spy on journalists in the name of national security (File photo: European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen)

All 32 offences listed in the EU arrest warrant, alongside any crime that could lead to a prison sentence over five years could be used under the new draft law.

It would also let EU governments exempt themselves from spying on journalists if it is in an ‘overriding requirement of the public interest’. 

Campaigners hit out the draft law as they warned it could pose a threat to freedom of the press and have a ‘chilling effect’ on whistleblowers.   

Julie Majerczak, Brussels director at Reporters Without Borders, said: ‘The possibility of monitoring journalists in the name of national security is an open door to all sort of abuses.’ 

Renate Schroeder, director of the European Federation of Journalists, decried the ‘dangerous loopholes’ and said the exemptions dealt a ‘blow to media freedom’.

‘It puts journalists even more at risk and creates in addition a chilling effect on whistleblowers and other sources,’ she said.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, welcomed the legislation and called for it to become law (File photo: EU flags outside the European Commission) 

EU ambassadors will now take the draft legislation to the European Parliament, with a view to thrashing out the final text.  

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, welcomed the agreement by the bloc’s member states and called for the draft legislation to become law soon.

‘Major step towards 1st-ever EU rules to protect media pluralism and freedom. We should all do more to protect journalists,’ said commission official Vera Jourova, who proposed the law last year.

‘I hope the Parliament can work quickly and we get a final deal soon.’

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