Speech & the Border E4: Spyware—The Authoritarians’ Favorite Tool

It's not new for repressive governments to go after journalists. What is new is the ease with which they can do so — by turning journalists’ own phones against them. Host Alex Abdo explores the pernicious commercial spyware industry, and how repressive governments around the world use spyware to target journalists and activists. John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, speaks about the technical capacities of commercial spyware products to infect a device without the user’s knowledge. Salvadoran news site El Faro co-founder Carlos Dada and digital content editor Nelson Rauda Zablah recount their experiences being targeted with spyware (likely by their own government), and seeking legal recourse with the help of the Knight Institute. 

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