Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-000617/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Sandro Ruotolo (S&D), Camilla Laureti (S&D), Marco Tarquinio (S&D), Brando Benifei (S&D), Annalisa Corrado (S&D), Elisabetta Gualmini (S&D), Alessandra Moretti (S&D), Cecilia Strada (S&D), Alessandro Zan (S&D), Birgit Sippel (S&D), Estelle Ceulemans (S&D), Hannes Heide (S&D), Alex Agius Saliba (S&D), Krzysztof Śmiszek (S&D), Mimmo Lucano (The Left), Gaetano Pedulla’ (The Left), Emma Rafowicz (S&D), Pasquale Tridico (The Left), Matjaž Nemec (S&D), Chloé Ridel (S&D), Benedetta Scuderi (Verts/ALE), Cristina Guarda (Verts/ALE), Ignazio Roberto Marino (Verts/ALE), Valentina Palmisano (The Left)
The online newspaper ‘Fanpage.it’, known for conducting investigations on leaders and militants of Italy’s ruling majority party, reported that the electronic device of its director, Francesco Cancellato, had been bugged by spyware developed by the company Paragon Solutions.
WhatsApp announced that 90 journalists and members of civil society worldwide had been spied on by this software to collect sensitive data and intercept private communications.
While the Italian Government has publicly denied any secret service involvement in this matter, Paragon Solutions may have just ‘terminated its client relationship with Italy’ following the revelations about spying on those journalists, according to The Guardian[1].
- 1.If it is confirmed that the Italian Government is a client of Paragon Solutions and is responsible for this action, would it constitute a violation of Directives 2002/58/EC, (EU) 2019/1937 and 2013/40/EU and Regulation (EU) 2016/679?
- 2.Is the Commission aware of the use of Paragon spyware against journalists and activists in the EU?
- 3.What measures does the Commission intend to take to protect press freedom and journalists from such attacks, and will the Commission launch an investigation to discover the extent of the violation and who the perpetrators are and to take measures against them?
Submitted: 11.2.2025
- [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/06/owner-of-spyware-used-in-alleged-whatsapp-breach-ends-contract-with-italy.