Italian government must explain spyware surveillance of journalist Francesco Cancellato
Complaints concerning the surveillance of Francesco Cancellato, editor-in-chief of the investigative outlet FanPage, and several activists continue to multiply — yet the response from the Italian government remains inconsistent and confusing. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges Italian authorities to identify the culprits of this attack on press freedom and clarify how and why the spyware Graphite was used on national territory.
On 1 February 2025, the British newspaper The Guardian revealed that at least 90 individuals, including the editor-in-chief of Fanpage.it Francesco Cancellato, had been spied on via the spyware Graphite, which is sold by the Israeli company Paragon.
Since then, the Meloni government has issued increasingly contradictory statements. On 4 February, Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Alfredo Mantovano denied that journalists had been surveilled. Yet on 17 February, he refused to answer parliamentary questions on the Italian authorities’ use of Graphite by arguing that it would violate state secrecy. When questioned by parliament, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio stated that "no interceptions" had been carried out by his department in 2024. Paragon, the company behind the spyware, announced it had terminated its contract with the Italian state, which the government subsequently denied, and the intelligence service ultimately confirmed.
Are Italian authorities involved in this surveillance? It is now up to the country’s judiciary to determine the answer. On 19 February, the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (Italy’s National Press Union) filed a complaint for the illegal breach of Francesco Cancellato’s personal data. A week earlier, the journalist filed a separate complaint with the Palermo prosecutor’s office. Apart from the fact that surveillance ended in December 2024, Cancellato does not know how long it lasted or who ordered it.
"The surveillance of Francesco Cancellato is a serious threat to source confidentiality, a cornerstone of press freedom now protected by the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). We call on Italian authorities to identify and sanction those responsible, whether they’re Italian or foreigners. Giorgia Meloni’s government must provide clear, transparent answers to parliament and the public regarding the use of the spyware Graphite by national authorities — without abusing the pretext of national security.
The Fanpage.it editor-in-chief — who, in June 2024, exposed the widespread racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric and the presence of self-proclaimed "fascists" within the youth wing of the ruling Fratelli d’Italia party — is, to date, the only journalist known to have been spied on in this case. Italian activists who aid migrants and have criticised the Meloni government have also filed complaints alleging they were victims of surveillance through Graphite.
It was WhatsApp, owned by US tech giant Meta, that alerted and put an end to this large-scale espionage campaign. Citizens from 13 other European countries are also believed to have been targeted: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Italy ranks 46th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
|
Are you a journalist concerned about surveillance? Contact the RSF Digital Security Lab, a service created to help media professionals counter digital surveillance related to their work. |
Aller plus loin
