Journalists Killed, Arrested, and Released Amid Escalating Attacks on Press Freedom
February 1, 2025
The PA, Israel, and Arab States: A Coordinated Effort to Silence Palestinian Voices
February 1, 2025
February 01, 2025 – Italy/ Israel –
Two Italian investigative journalists from Fanpage.it have publicly identified themselves as targets of sophisticated Israeli-made spyware, fueling growing concerns about the misuse of surveillance technology against journalists and activists.
In January 2025, Francesco Cancellato, editor-in-chief of Fanpage.it, received an alert from WhatsApp informing him that his phone was targeted with spyware. This notification was part of a broader alert campaign affecting approximately 90 users globally. Cancellato, known for his investigative work on Italy’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, described the attempted intrusion as a serious violation of his privacy. Though forensic experts found no traces of infection on his device, they confirmed that the attack was linked to Paragon Solutions’ Graphite spyware, which exploits vulnerabilities in messaging apps like WhatsApp.
A few months later, in April 2025, another Fanpage.it journalist, Ciro Pellegrino, received a similar warning from Apple. Independent cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) corroborated the legitimacy of both alerts, confirming that Graphite had been used in broader Italian operations. In a related case, members of the Mediterranea NGO, involved in migrant rescue operations, were also found to have been successfully infected with the spyware.
Paragon Solutions, the Israeli company behind Graphite, initially suspended and later terminated its contract with Italy after reports emerged that the spyware had been misused. While Italian authorities maintain that all spyware deployments were legally authorized and targeted criminal activities such as terrorism, smuggling, and illegal migration, critics argue that the inclusion of journalists and activists indicates serious overreach. The Italian parliamentary intelligence committee, COPASIR, has launched an investigation into the matter.
These revelations underscore the escalating global debate over the use of state-grade spyware on civilians. Tools like Graphite, similar to NSO Group’s notorious Pegasus, offer governments powerful means of surveillance but also threaten press freedom, privacy, and democratic accountability when misused. The targeting of journalists like Cancellato and Pellegrino demonstrates the potential dangers of unchecked surveillance powers, even within democratic nations.
References –
https://www.newarab.com/news/italian-journalist-names-self-target-israel-spyware-attack
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/31/italian-journalist-whatsapp-israeli-spyware
