Media: Italy severs ties with Israeli spyware firm Paragon Amid Journalist Surveillance Scandal

Italy’s intelligence agencies have cut ties with Israeli surveillance firm Paragon Solutions after a parliamentary investigation revealed its spyware had been allegedly used to monitor journalists and activists.

The decision marks a significant shift in Italy’s stance on digital surveillance tools following months of controversy, Caliber.Az reports, citing Al-Monitor.

According to a report released on June 9 by Italy’s parliamentary intelligence oversight committee, COPASIR, the country’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies—AISE and AISI—first suspended and then fully terminated their contracts with Paragon.

The exact timeline remains unclear, but the move follows growing scrutiny over the use of the firm’s Graphite spyware, which can bypass smartphone encryption to extract private messages and data.

The Italian government had initially authorised the software for limited use in criminal investigations, including cases related to terrorism, smuggling, and espionage.

However, concerns arose after reports emerged that the tools were deployed against individuals outside those parameters—including Francesco Cancellato, deputy editor of the Italian news outlet Fanpage.it, as well as members of the migrant rescue NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, which has been critical of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.

While COPASIR confirmed that Mediterranea members were surveilled due to their involvement in "irregular migration," it found no evidence that Cancellato had been targeted.

The backlash led to a temporary suspension of Graphite’s use in February, before the contracts were ultimately scrapped.

Paragon, for its part, claimed it had offered Italian authorities a way to verify whether its software was used against Cancellato but said the government declined, prompting the company to terminate its contracts.

Officials, however, rejected the proposal, arguing Paragon’s methods were too invasive and failed to meet national security protocols.

The controversy adds to broader concerns over spyware abuse. Earlier this year, WhatsApp accused Paragon of targeting 90 of its users, including journalists, seven of whom were in Italy. While Rome insisted its surveillance was lawful, rights groups like Amnesty International have condemned Graphite as inherently intrusive, arguing such tools should be banned entirely.

Paragon, founded in 2019 by veterans of Israel’s Unit 8200 and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, has sought to position itself as an ethical player in the surveillance industry.

Yet its software has been adopted by multiple governments, including the U.S., where agencies like ICE and the DEA have reportedly used it.

By Aghakazim Guliyev