The United States is committed to leading the fight against the abuse of commercial spyware.
In 2023, a joint investigation by Access Now, Citizen Lab, Amnesty International, and other groups documented evidence that spyware was being used to target civil society activists, journalists, and a UN official. Commercial spyware has also been associated with international crime, weapons smuggling, corruption, and transnational repression.
“Faced with this alarming threat, the United States took swift action,” said Ambassador Dorothy Shea, U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations.
“[F]irst by blocking four commercial spyware vendors from accessing U.S. technology, and later by implementing bipartisan legislation committing the United States government to addressing the threat posed by the misuse of commercial spyware. In late 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order that placed restrictions for the first time on the U.S. Government’s use of commercial spyware that poses a threat to human rights and national security.”
Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned six entities and seven individuals for their role in developing, operating, and distributing potentially dangerous commercial spyware technology.
In 2024, the Department of State restricted the ability of dozens of individuals believed to have been involved in the misuse of commercial spyware to target journalists, activists, and dissidents to travel to the United States.
Confronting a threat of this magnitude requires international cooperation, said Ambassador Shea.
“In 2023, eleven countries joined the Joint Statement on Efforts to Counter the Proliferation and Misuse of Commercial Spyware. And the statement has been updated to reflect the commitments of 11 additional countries over the past year.”
Even as governments use commercial technologies to perform legitimate law enforcement and intelligence, “we call on governments to implement guardrails and procedures to create rights-respecting models for procurement and use of commercial spyware,” said Ambassador Shea.
“We also call on governments to strengthen export controls to curb the proliferation of these technologies without guardrails and to provide remedy and justice for victims of commercial spyware – while affirming their respect for freedoms of expression, and association and peaceful assembly, and protecting and preserving civic spaces.”
The United States looks forward to discussing what more can be done together to further protect our citizens, as well as international peace and security, from the misuse and proliferation of commercial spyware.