24 September 2025, UNHQ, New York – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), with the support of the PAM Centre for Global Studies (CGS), and in partnership with the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) of the United Nations Security Council, convened a High-Level Side Event entitled “New Technologies and Parliamentarians: The Role of Parliamentarians in the Regulation and Prevention of the Misuse of Spyware.”

The event brought together over 50 participants, including PAM delegates, senior United Nations officials, experts from academia, as well as government representatives, and served as a platform to introduce the latest PAM–CTED joint research report, on ‘Spyware Misuse: Legislative, Governance, and Judicial Considerations, Historical Evolution, and Technical Insights.”

The report, currently undergoing an international peer review by leading experts, addresses both risks and potential opportunities related to spyware and outlines the critical role of parliaments in establishing oversight and regulatory frameworks.

Opening the session, Ms. Natalia Gherman, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) and Executive Director of CTED, welcomed the longstanding cooperation with PAM and emphasized the central role of parliaments in countering the misuse of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies by terrorist groups. She highlighted the need for strengthened interparliamentary cooperation to ensure technologies are developed and applied safely, in line with international human rights standards.

Hon. Giulio Centemero (Italy), PAM President, recalled the successful research initiatives carried out by PAM-CGS in cooperation with CTED. He highlighted the first joint publication, “The Malicious Use of AI and Emerging Technologies by Terrorist and Criminal Groups: Impact on Security, Legislation, and Governance,” and introduced the latest study on spyware misuse. He stressed that the report not only analyses risks and vulnerabilities but also provides parliamentarians with concrete recommendations on how to regulate, govern, and oversee surveillance technologies.

The subsequent debate featured the presentation of the main objectives of the report, including its core findings and recommendations.

Contributing to the discussions, Hon. Mohamed Abou El Enein, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Egypt, PAM President Emeritus, and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM), highlighted the importance of establishing clear regulatory approaches to the use of spyware and emerging technologies and emphasized that parliamentary initiatives should ensure responsible governance of these tools.

Debate participants also reflected on the broader human and societal implications of surveillance technologies. Hon. Joana Lima (Portugal), President Emerita and Founder of the PAM Women Parliamentary Forum, recalled that 2025 marks three decades since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Referring to UN Women’s Gender Snapshot 2025, she warned that the digital revolution, while offering new opportunities, is exacerbating inequalities. Women and girls continue to face disproportionate exposure to online harassment, alongside persistent gender gaps in internet access, particularly in least developed countries. She stressed that spyware and tracking tools create new vulnerabilities, increasingly misused to control women, including survivors of domestic violence and harassment, as well as to target women human rights defenders and journalists.

Further contributing to the discussion, Hon. Abdelouahab Yagoubi (Algeria), PAM Rapporteur on Artificial Intelligence, highlighted PAM’s continued engagement in the global dialogue on emerging technologies and their impact on security, human rights, and democratic systems. He underscored that the misuse of commercial spyware tools represents a profound transformation in surveillance practices, necessitating innovative governance and legislative responses. Drawing attention to the rise of “agent-based AI” systems capable of autonomous reconnaissance, real-time adaptation, and iterative operation without continuous human oversight, he described these developments as a decisive turning point in surveillance practices. Such advances, he noted, merge advanced digital technologies with massive data flows and volatile political contexts, demanding strategic parliamentary action to build effective governance mechanisms capable of addressing these rapidly evolving challenges.

Several interventions from the floor enriched the discussion, including those by Mr. Oscar Buynevich, Special Advisor to the U.S. Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Ms. Seh Lih Long, Human Rights Officer at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as a representative of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.

They underlined the urgent need for stronger guidelines on the use of commercial spyware, balancing national security imperatives with the protection of privacy and human rights. They stressed that spyware should only be employed under strict conditions of necessity and proportionality, with independent authorization, transparency, and accountability. Furthermore, they highlighted that companies involved in the development and trade of spyware must carry out due diligence and be held legally liable in cases of misuse, while parliaments play a critical role in regulating its proliferation and ensuring accountability.

In this regard, PAM, with the critical support of its Center for Golobal Studies (CGS), will continue to advance parliamentary cooperation and promote the creation of a “Euro-Mediterranean and Gulf Parliamentary Network for the Prevention and Combating of the Misuse of Spyware Technologies.” Conceived as a regional initiative for cross-border coordination, the Network will focus on the development and sharing of standards and best practices, operating under the umbrella of the PAM-CGS Global Permanent Parliamentary Observatory on AI and Emerging Technology. //