Civil society organisations call European Commission not to backtrack on EU spyware rules

According to Euractiv, the European Commission has been urged not to soften its stance on EU rules that would outlaw the export of cyber surveillance tools to authoritarian regimes worldwide, amid ongoing negotiations between the European Council and Parliament on new measures. In a joint letter, a coalition of human rights organizations (Access Now, Amnesty International, Brot für die Welt, Committee to Protect Journalists, FIDH, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, Reporters Without Borders) called on the European Commission to strengthen its compromise position regarding the EU dual-use recast, and bring them in line with the original Commission proposal from September 2016.