A coalition of civil society and journalists’ organizations called on the EU to act against the circulation and use of spyware in a joint statement issued on Wednesday. The demands for the EU’s next legislative term include a ban on the production, sale, and use of spyware and the introduction of safeguards against surveillance.

According to the statement, along with infringing the fundamental right to privacy of EU citizens, spyware poses a manifest threat to democracy. It does so, the group says, by influencing independent decision-making, journalism and activism free from state intervention. The coalition deems the recently adopted European Media Freedom Act insufficient to curb an increasing trend of journalists and public figures being surveilled and thus demands the commission to propose a new EU legal framework on the matter.

Moreover, the group demands the European Commission, Council and EU member states to adequately implement existing rules, such as the Dual-Use Regulation, to prevent the commerce of potentially harmful technologies. This instrument sets rules for dual-use technology which can have legitimate civilian applications but can also be used in a way that contravenes human rights and privacy.

Numerous governments in Europe and beyond have increasingly used spyware in recent years to pursue their interests, often at the cost of fundamental rights. Prominently, the software Pegasus, which a majority of EU member states have purchased, has been used to surveil press officers, human rights defenders and politicians unlawfully. The European Data Protection Supervisor and dozens of experts organizations had previously called for a ban on Pegasus due to human rights concerns.