Greeva Garg–
The Editors Guild of India demanded a probe monitored by the Supreme Court of India into the Pegasus Snooping allegation.
The plea came in the matter where the surveillance reports came up alleging the government agencies infringing privacy rights of journalists, civil society activists, businessmen and politicians.
“The Guild demands an urgent and an independent inquiry into these snooping charges, under the aegis of Supreme Court of India,” a press statement issued by it stated.
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The plea further demanded constituting a committee to investigate the matter, which should include the people of impeccable credibility. The Guild requested for a thorough investigation of the facts around the extent and intent of snooping, using the services of Pegasus.
The Guild said that “The act of snooping, using the spyware is a brazen and unconstitutional attack on freedom of speech and press. This act of snooping essentially conveys that journalism and political dissent are now equated with ‘terror’. How can a constitutional democracy survive if Governments do not make an effort to protect freedom of speech and allows surveillance with such impunity?”
The Pegasus spyware is meant to be targeted at criminals, developed by the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group and licensed to Governments all around the world.
