Governments worldwide are deploying sophisticated spyware against journalists through methods that are growing cheaper, more powerful, and harder to detect, according to a recent report by the International Federation of Journalists (IJF). For journalists who want to understand what they are up against and what they can do about it, the report also offered a set of recommendations, based on interviews with digital security specialists.

India has ranked 157^th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, which rated the country’s press freedom situation as “Very Serious,” the highest level of threat in the annual index.

Governments worldwide are systematically deploying commercial spyware against journalists, and the business of building and selling such tools has grown into a global industry operating with little regulation or accountability, according to a study by the International Federation of Journalists, or IFJ, a Brussels-based organisation representing journalists globally.