The Department of State announced this week a change in its policy on issuing visas allowing entry to the United States. The new rules will allow Americans to control the inflow of people involved in scandals related to illegal spying.
The US will not issue visas to spyware creators and operators
In practice, this means that the United States will have the ability to impose “visa restrictions” on people it suspects have misused, facilitated, or benefited from commercial spyware. It is primarily about using programs such as Pegasus for illegal or unethical purposes – e.g. to eavesdrop on political opponents, journalists or human rights defenders.
The US will therefore have the opportunity to refuse visas to both creators and operators of commercial spy programs that are used inappropriately. It is worth noting that the creators of the above-mentioned Pegasus declare that the program can be used by appropriate services only in justified cases – e.g. to fight terrorism.
The Department of State notes that the new policy is “another action in the United States’ comprehensive approach to countering the inappropriate use of commercial spyware.” Last year, Joe Biden’s administration issued an executive order prohibiting U.S. agencies from using commercial spyware that poses a risk to national security or foreign policy interests.
The United States remains concerned about the growing misuse of commercial spyware around the world to facilitate repression, restrict the free flow of information, and violate human rights. Misuse of commercial spyware threatens privacy, freedom of expression and peaceful association and assembly
– wrote the Department of State in a statement.
The Americans’ decision coincided with further information about the espionage scandal in Poland. Unofficial findings show that the special services, supervised by Mariusz Kamiñski and Maciej Wąsik, eavesdropped even on politicians of the ruling party. “There is a list of politicians from this party circulating in PiS,” wrote Jacek Gądek. You can read more about this in the article below:
Source: Gazeta
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