A joint investigative project has revealed how several regimes, including India, could have used Israeli surveillance tools to target activists, politicians and journalists.
The joint investigation was carried out by 17 international media outlets, that include The Wire, Le Monde, The Guardian and Washington Post, into a massive data leak, which was accessed by Paris-based media nonprofit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, as part of a collaborative investigation called the ‘Pegasus Project’
Data reveals that the phones were regularly infected with Pegasus, a highly-sophisticated spyware tool developed by Israeli company NSO Group that gives clients access to the entirety of a phone’s contents and can even remotely access the camera and microphone, according to a forensic analysis by Amnesty International’s Security Lab, in partnership with Forbidden Stories, who conducted cutting- edge forensic tests on mobile phones to identify traces of the spyware.
According to The Wire, “the numbers of those in the database include over 40 journalists, three major opposition figures, one constitutional authority, two serving ministers in the Narendra Modi government, current and former heads and officials of security organisations and scores of businesspersons.”
“The Pegasus Project lays bare how NSO’s spyware is a weapon of choice for repressive governments seeking to silence journalists, attack activists and crush dissent, placing countless lives in peril.”
– Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
The Print has published the following list of Indians, including journalists, lawyers and activists whose phones were allegedly potential targets of surveillance, some of which were successfully snooped upon, according to the expose.
Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times
Prashant Jha, Hindustan Times
Rahul Singh, Hindustan Times
Aurangzeb Naqshbandi, Hindustan Times
Saikat Dutta, former Hindustan Times
Vijaita Singh, The Hindu
Muzamil Jaleel, The Indian Express
Ritika Chopra, The Indian Express
Sushant Singh, former The Indian Express
Sandeep Unnithan, India Today
Siddharth Varadarajan, co-founder of The Wire
Swati Chaturvedi, The Wire
Devirupa Mitra, The Wire
Rohini Singh, The Wire
M.K. Venu, The Wire
J Gopikrishnan, The Pioneer
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, journalist and adviser, NewsClick
Manoranjana Gupta, editor-in-chief, Frontier TV
Shabir Hussein Buchh, independent journalist
Iftikar Gilani, journalist covering J&K
Smita Sharma, IndianAhead
Prem Shankar Jha, Indian economist, journalist
Santosh Bhartiya, journalist and ex MP
Deepak Gidwani, independent journalist
Bhupinder Singh Sajjan, Punjabi journalist
Jaspal Singh Heran, Punjabi Journalist
Hassan Babar Nehru, lawyer and activist in J&K
Umar Khalid, JNU scholar, currently in jail under UAPA
Thirumurugan Gandhi, activist arrested under UAPA
Rona Wilson, activist arrested under UAPA
Rupali Jadhav, arrested under UAPA
Degree Prasad Chouhan, activist
Laxman Pant, activist
Indian Government’s response
The Indian government has denied the report as a ‘fishing expedition, based on conjectures and exaggerations to malign the Indian democracy and its institutions.’
“India is a robust democracy that is committed to ensuring the right to privacy to all its citizens as a fundamental right. In furtherance of this commitment, it has also introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to protect the personal data of individuals and to empower users of social media platforms,” said the Indian government in a response the questionnaire sent by the team of ‘Pegasus Project.’
It said, “The questionnaire sent to the Government of India indicates that the story being crafted is one that is not only bereft of facts but also founded in pre-conceived conclusions. It seems you are trying to play the role of an investigator, prosecutor as well as jury.”
“In the past, similar claims were made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp by Indian State. Those reports also had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties, including WhatsApp in the Indian Supreme Court.” “This news report, thus, also appears to be a similar fishing expedition, based on conjectures and exaggerations to malign the Indian democracy and its institutions.”
