EU Set To Approve The Use Of Spyware To Uncover Confidential Journalist Sources

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

Press freedom campaigners warned that the legislation would expand legal loopholes that would let governments install spyware on journalists’ phones and computers, including British journalists operating in the EU.

The draft legislation, which 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 governments use a broad array of crimes, ranging from murder to theft to music piracy, as a legal reason for using intrusive surveillance software on journalists.

Press freedom advocates warned the last-minute changes demanded by France could unlock the doors to all types of abuses.

All 32 crimes listed in the EU arrest warrant, alongside any offence 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 reporters if it was an overriding requirement of the public interest.

Campaigners lashed out at the draft law as they warned it could pose a threat to the freedom of the press and have a chilling impact on whistleblowers.

Julie Majerczak, Brussels director at Reporters without Borders, said that the possibility of monitoring journalists in the name of national security was an open door to all sorts of abuse.

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

She said it put reporters even more at risk and would create a chilling impact on whistleblowers and other sources.

EU ambassadors will now take the draft legislation to the European Parliament, with a view to pounding 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 shortly.

Commission official Vera Jourova, who proposed the law last year said it was a major step towards 1st ever EU rules to protect media pluralism and freedom, and that we should all do more to protect journalists, and she said that she hoped the Parliament could work quickly and that they get a final deal soon.

This only tells us one thing. Perhaps the EU has dirty little secrets and doesn’t want them exposed to the masses, as the United Kingdom becomes more communist by the day!

And where is the line drawn between national security and the suppression of dissenters and freedom of the press?

Eventually, there will be spying everywhere, on your phone, on your computer, if it’s not being done already. There will be no need for warrants, no need for a judge to approve it. Just random spying on the people. They will record what you say, what’s on your PC and text messages on your phone.

George Orwell was on the right path. He might have been a bit of an optimist, but he certainly knew something was amuck.

They call it national security, but in fact, it’s an EU dictatorship. Can you hear the jackboots parading through the streets of Brussels?

Don’t think for one moment that we in the United Kingdom are safe from these dystopian measures, and our slavish administration will readily adopt them.

Big brother is watching you!