European Union: Surveillance Technology Sold to Rights Violators

(Brussels, May 12, 2026) – The European Union has failed to prevent member states from exporting surveillance technology to governments with well-documented histories of using technology to spy on activists, journalists, and other critical voices, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The European Commission should strengthen its implementation of EU regulations on the export of cybersurveillance technology to ensure that European technology is not facilitating rights abuses around the world. The 54-page report, “Looking the Other Way: EU Failure to Prevent Surveillance Exports to Rights Violators,” assesses how the EU’s landmark Dual-Use Regulation, adopted in 2021, is functioning in practice. The regulation was intended, in part, to prevent the export of dual-use technologies—those that may be used for both civilian and military purposes, including commercial surveillance technology—to places where they are likely to be used to violate international humanitarian or human rights law. But that goal is not being achieved because it is not being implemented effectively.