JAKARTA Italian lawmakers have officially asked for clarification from the government regarding alleged surveillance of journalists, which may be carried out using technology from spyware company from the United States, Paragon. This was revealed by a source familiar with the matter on Friday, July 5.
This move is the latest chapter in a story that has lasted for months and puts Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's conservative government in the spotlight. His government is accused of illegally using surveillance tools against its critics accusations that have been repeatedly denied by the government.
Italy's parliamentary security committee, COPASIR, is reported to have sent a letter to Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano, one of Meloni's confidants in charge of intelligence affairs, asking if it was true that journalists were targeted for wiretapping. Mantovano has not commented when asked for a response.
Meloni's own government has consistently denied allegations of involvement in illegal reconnaissance against journalists.
The US-based Paragon company has also not responded to a request for comment from Reuters until Friday evening.
In January 2025, META revealed that around 90 users of its WhatsApp messaging service were targeted by Paragon spyware. Some of them are known to come from Italy.
In June, Reuters reported that Italian prosecutors were investigating allegations of wiretapping of several media figures, including Ciro Pellegrino and Francesco Cancellato from the Fanpage news site, Roberto DAgostino from the political gossip site Dagospia, as well as right-wing influencer from the Netherlands, Eva Vlaardingerbroek.
In a report published last June, COPASIR stated that Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies do have contracts with Paragon and have used its technology to monitor a small number of people with permission from the prosecutor's office.
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Some of these targets include members of a migrant rescue NGO at sea who often criticize Meloni's government's strict border policies. However, the report stated there was no evidence that Paragon spyware was used against Cancellato's cell phone, as he accused Reuters and other media. There is no information about other journalists in the report.
After sharp criticism from the media and opposition politicians emerged, both Paragon and Italian authorities stated last month that cooperation contracts related to spyware had been terminated.
In a statement given to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in June 2025, Paragon claimed to have offered the Italian government a way to verify whether their spyware was used against Cancellato. However, because the offer was rejected, Paragon decided to terminate his contract.
Meanwhile, COPASIR stated that the Italian government itself took the initiative to stop the cooperation, and denied the story version of Paragon.
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