EU lawmakers to probe ‘political’ Pegasus spyware use

The European Parliament creates a “committee of inquiry” to probe accusations over the use of Pegasus spyware by governments in the bloc, notably in Hungary and Poland.

Lawmakers vote overwhelmingly to “investigate alleged breaches of EU law in the use of the surveillance software,” a statement says.

The 38-member committee “is going to look into existing national laws regulating surveillance, and whether Pegasus spyware was used for political purposes against, for example, journalists, politicians and lawyers.”

The Pegasus malware, created by Israeli technology firm NSO Group, was engulfed in controversy last July after a collaborative investigation by several media outlets reported that a string of governments around the world had used it to spy on critics and opponents.

Recently Israel was taken by storm following accusations by the Calcalist newspaper of widespread police use of the software to spy on citizens without court oversight. A government investigation into the matter found no evidence of police wrongdoing, though the force has admitted to using unidentified spyware technology to hack phones under court-issued warrants.