Reporters Without Borders Files Case at European Court Challenging BND Authority to Hack Journalists

The European Court of Human Rights notified the German government in June of two complaints filed by Reporter ohne Grenzen (RSF) challenging the legal basis for BND spyware deployment and strategic telecommunications surveillance, according to RSF 12. RSF said the court has already sent Berlin formal questions and signaled the cases could be treated as expedited "impact cases" given their precedent-setting scope, with the government required to respond by October 12. The spyware complaint, filed by Berlin attorney Niko Härting on RSF's behalf, argues journalists face surveillance risk even when they are not themselves the BND's target but merely in contact with a monitored person 13. A second complaint, brought jointly with the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte and law professor Matthias Bäcker, contends Germany's post-2020 BND Act reforms inadequately implemented Federal Constitutional Court requirements on surveillance of communications confidentiality 13. The court has also asked Berlin whether state exploitation of security vulnerabilities for spyware access weakens IT security for all users, according to RSF and Apollo News 14.