US to block visas to those who misuse commercial spyware to target journalists, activists, dissidents and more
- Officials said the visa restriction policy can apply to citizens of any country found to have misused or facilitated the malign use of spyware
- Announcing the policy, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the misuse of commercial spyware ‘threatens privacy and freedoms of expression’
The Biden administration announced on Monday it is rolling out a new policy that will allow it to impose visa restrictions on foreign individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware.
The administration’s policy will apply to people who have been involved in the misuse of commercial spyware to target individuals including journalists, activists, perceived dissidents, members of marginalised communities, or the family members of those who are targeted.
The visa restrictions could also apply to people who facilitate or get financial benefit from the misuse of commercial spyware, officials said.
“The United States remains concerned with the growing misuse of commercial spyware around the world to facilitate repression, restrict the free flow of information, and enable human rights abuses,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement announcing the new policy.
“The misuse of commercial spyware threatens privacy and freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. Such targeting has been linked to arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in the most egregious of cases.”
