Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that companies in at least 6 EU member states sold surveillance technologies to more than two dozen countries with documented human rights violations, even after the bloc introduced rules in 2021 to curb such exports. [1, 2]
The rights group said the countries included Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and Poland, and that some of the buyers were states involved in repression of activists and journalists. [1, 2]
In the report, senior researcher Zach Campbell said, "European surveillance tech is being licensed for export to countries with long, well-documented histories of using similar technology to violate rights and presents serious risks of being used by those governments to spy on journalists, activists and other critical voices." He added that "it is apparent that European institutions that should be controlling these exports are failing to do so." [1]
Human Rights Watch said the 2021 EU regulations are not being properly enforced. [1, 2]
The European Commission said it "attaches great importance" to cyber-surveillance items and that the EU has "significantly strengthened export controls" for them. A commission spokesperson said export controls are enforced by member states and must be updated regularly to "adjust to evolving security risks and threats." [1]
The report follows the 2021 rules as the latest concrete EU step on the issue, with the commission saying member states are responsible for enforcement. [1, 2]
