27 DE FEVEREIRO DE 2024

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Let me start by underlining the importance of this Report, because it analyses the

use of Pegasus and similar spyware by several countries. However, the problem is that

when a report analyses several countries – more than one country – we cannot think

that each one acts the same and condemns all the same way. Each case is different.

And what happens is in many cases, the spyware has been used far beyond its original

design and it can represent a threat to our democracies. As is what was stated before,

Pegasus and similar spyware have been widely misused, namely to attack the

smartphones of political opponents, social activists, journalists or just anyone.

We are speaking about untraceable spyware that mirrors everything a person does

on their phone and that can access the microphone and camera.

Remembering George Orwell's book 1984, there were posters all over Oceania saying, «Big Brother is

watching you». Today, we have no posters, but this dystopian fiction can be a reality in several places. In fact,

anyone could be a victim of such spyware. However, it might not be because that person is a dangerous criminal

or a terrorist. If that was the reason, that would be acceptable but anyone can be spied on for political reasons

and that is unacceptable in a healthy democracy. That is a violation of the rule of law, of democracy and its

institutions.

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights states that everyone has the right to respect their

privacy and their family life, home and correspondence. And as the Report states, «spyware must be limited to

exceptional circumstances as a measure of last resort for genuine and serious threats to national security or

specific and defined serious crimes». So, democratic countries must abstain from using this spyware until their

legislative framework is fully in line with the standards of the European Court of Human Rights and the

requirements of the Convention.

I believe it is our duty to create measures that mitigate risks to democracy and to protect the fundamental

rights of people.

Thank you.

Deputado Nuno Carvalho (PSD)

Thank you, Madam President.

Well, first let me congratulate the rapporteur for this Report which is very important because we're talking

about monitoring our own democracies. And, of course, first of all it recognises the importance of this instrument

in extreme situations regarding terrorism and crimes. And, of course, this is an instrument that may become a

very valuable weapon against this type of crimes and threats to our democracy. But also, like any other weapon,

if it is misused it may become a threat to our own democracy.

So, the first step that I would like to underline is the importance of democracy to be able to monitor the use of

this software. The second is the importance that we need to give to this in order to understand that we may speak

of certain countries, but of course that, if a certain country trades this technology with another country, we can

actually have a very difficult situation in which we can just enlarge the danger of this software.

So, we need a framework in which all countries that have this technology need to act and need to assume a

compromise in order to use this in the better way which also includes not to give this technology away so easily

to other countries.

So, this aspect is very important and of course I think it's also important that, if there are countries that are

using this spyware, and I do believe that it is important to use them in these specific cases, terrorism or other

type of crimes, well they should say that they are using it, they should declare, and they should develop the

instruments in order to monitor their actions, monitor the usage of this technology.

Otherwise, if this surveillance on this software does not happen, then we do have a threat to democracy,

because it's far far too powerful for its usage not to be surveilled, not to be monitored by all the instruments that

democracy, a solid democracy, has.