Spyware. In Italy the Paragon scandal is widening but a dense fog surrounds

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Whilst awaiting information from the government and security forces, the solution is being entrusted to the judiciary, the European Union and potentially, the European Court of Human Rights

OSSIGENO – June 28^th  2025 – In Italy, some public bodies have had exclusive use of the Israeli company Paragon’s Graphite spyware. Which of these institutions spied on Italian journalists and activists using this military-grade software, and on whose authorization? Two months after the scandal was discovered, these questions still await answers, while the scandal widens with the discovery of other journalists in Italy spied on with this software: Ciro Pellegrino,  Roberto D’Agostino (the founder and chief editor  of Dagospia, an online behind the scenes newsletter), Eva Vlaardingerbroek (a Dutch right wing activist), as well as Francesco Cancellato (chief editor of Fanpage.it), who was the first to reveal he had been illegally spied upon, and activists from the sea-rescue NGO Mediterranea.

THE DATA – Regarding the extent of the surveillance of journalists through Paragon, Sandro Ruotolo, MEP for the Italian Democratic Party, provided some data to the European Parliament. According to Meta (operator of numerous social media platforms), 61 users were infected in 17 European countries, including seven Italians.  Apple, however, estimated that 150 countries worldwide were affected. Ruotolo  added: “I appeal to those who have been illegally spied on whilst using Apple and Meta products: come out of anonymity. Help us. We must protect journalists, opponents, and activists from illegal espionage. Spied on by Israeli software, financed by American funds.”

IN ITALY, the additional names of journalists spied upon have sparked controversy, aroused a wave of protests, and prompted renewed calls to uncover and punish those responsible for these serious violations of the right to collect and disseminate information without interference from the government or other authorities. These are fully justified demands which Ossigeno also supports.

Who could unravel the mystery? The government, certainly, or COPASIR (the Parliamentary Committee for the Oversight of the Secret Services), which Carlo Bartoli, president of the Order of Journalists, has again urged to intervene.

Until the government and COPASIR provide the necessary comprehensive answers, one will have to rely on the various on-going investigations. First and foremost, those initiated by the Rome and Naples prosecutors’ offices, those of independent observation centres as well as those of political and institutional bodies, including the Italian Parliament, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

RULE OF LAW REPORT – The European Commission actively monitors violations of fundamental rights committed in each EU member state and reports on them in its annual Rule of Law Report. For five years, this Report has mapped the violations and failures of each of the 27 EU countries to comply with the obligations undertaken under the Accession Treaty, which requires compliance with the rule of law, a set of rules that requires always acting in compliance with laws and procedures. The 2025 Report, expected in July, will likely attract more attention than last year’s which was rather critical of Italy and was largely ignored by politicians and newspapers. That report infuriated President Giorgia Meloni, who reacted with an unusual letter of protest, received with surprise in Brussels and briefly reported by the Italian press.

THE ECHR – The intervention of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is what could ultimately establish the framework for accountability and sanction those responsible. The Court is, in fact, empowered to adjudicate violations of journalists’ right to freely gather information and to maintain the confidentiality of their trusted sources (read here), which is one of the key norms of the rule of law and is protected by Article 10 of the Convention that created the Court (see here). The Court’s intervention still seems a long way off. But its should not be underestimated. ASP