European Parliament adopted its position on the European Media Freedom Act, but advocacy groups say it lacks protection against spyware and disinformation

Ahead of the vote, 80 journalist organisations and advocacy groups sent an open letter to MEPs requesting the absolute prohibition of spyware against journalists.

While the Parliament’s culture and education committee (CULT) added further safeguards against the use of spyware against journalists, many argued that these do not go far enough, as the approved text allows for the deployment of spyware by member states in certain cases that concern national security.

“Spyware is an intrusive measure and the European Parliament missed the opportunity to ban it,” Eva Simon, senior advocacy officer at Liberties told Euractiv.

“National security can mean different things across the EU, depending on the laws of the member states. Without safeguards, anyone can be the victim of abusive use of spyware, as it happened in the cases of Pegasus.”