Global Surveillance of Journalists: A Technical Mapping of Tools, Tactics, and Threats

Over the past decade, digital surveillance targeting journalists has shifted from scattered, state-run monitoring to a full-fledged commercial industry that spans continents. This study, commissioned by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), investigates the technical infrastructure behind this transformation and the human consequences it produces. Drawing on interviews with cybersecurity experts, forensic analysts and journalists from diverse parts of the world, as well as technical documentation and verified investigations between 2021 and 2025, it paints a detailed picture of how the act of reporting has become intertwined with the risk of being watched, tracked or hacked.