Spain’s Oversight of Ronan Farrow’s Documentary “Surveilled” and the Role of Catalonia

In November, journalist Ronan Farrow released his documentary Surveilled on HBO Max, shining a light on the spyware industry and its implications in the Catalangate scandal. This scandal, previously uncovered by Farrow in 2022, revealed the illegal surveillance of politicians, activists, and lawyers involved in the Catalonia independence movement by the Spanish state.

Surveilled delves into the use of spyware like Pegasus, produced by the Israeli company NSO Group and sold to states under the guise of preventing terrorism and crime. However, the documentary argues that this technology can be easily abused by authoritarian regimes and even democratic governments for their own agendas.

Spain’s involvement in the Catalangate scandal serves as a prime example of a state overstepping boundaries to suppress a political movement. Since 2010, Spain has resorted to various legal and illegal measures to quash the Catalonia independence movement, from police intervention to illegal surveillance tactics.

Despite the global impact of the documentary, it has been notably ignored by the Spanish media, downplaying the significance of these actions or portraying them as necessary for national security. Surveilled serves as a reminder of the lengths some governments will go to maintain control, even at the expense of privacy and democratic principles.

As Minister of Defense Margarita Robles articulated in Parliament, the rationale behind these actions is often framed as necessary to protect the unity of the state. However, in a democratic society, such tactics blur the lines between upholding the rule of law and infringing on fundamental rights of citizens.

Surveilled is just the beginning of a larger conversation about government surveillance and the erosion of civil liberties in the name of national security. The documentary raises important questions about the balance between security and individual freedoms, particularly in the context of modern technology and political dissent.