In light of the developing news story regarding the NSO Group's Pegasus spyware and how it was reportedly used to target several Indian activists, journalists, and politicians between 2017 and 2019, MediaNama reached out to several Indian parliamentarians with queries on the same subject. This running report will be updated to reflect all key reactions, statements, or announcements made by Indian parliamentarians from here on: Why this matters: The revelations that have emerged from the collaborative reporting undertaken by Forbidden Stories and other partnered news outlets have major implications for surveillance and privacy. While India has long been suspected of being a Pegasus buyer, the scale and nature of surveillance it has embarked upon and the profile of the victims, hardly suggest that it has anything to do with national security or organised crime dealings — the two overheads which would mandate the usage of such spyware. The Indian government has not categorically denied spying on the individuals, but did cite surveillance laws and said that “allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever” Pegasus use is hacking, not tapping: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi urged the Union government for clarification regarding allegations of Pegasus targeting activists and journalists. Owaisi tweeted, "#Pegasus use is hacking, not “authorised interception” or tapping. Hacking is a crime, whether it’s done by individuals or govt (sic). Govt has to expressly disclose or deny only 2 things: 1…
