# Pegasus Project reports Hungarian journalist and opposition targeting

Date: 2021

In July 2021 the Pegasus Project reported that Hungarian journalists, lawyers, and opposition figures appeared on targeting lists for NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The government said lawful national-security tools were used. This is an investigative record, not a criminal judgment.

The Pegasus disclosures identified Hungarian journalists and other public-interest figures as targets in a surveillance system linked to state use of commercial spyware. The rights concern is the use of intrusive surveillance against people whose work depends on confidential communications, not the mere possession of lawful interception capabilities. It does not claim that [Viktor Orbán](/people/mig-actor-viktor-orban) personally selected each target. The political responsibility recorded here concerns the state system operating under his government and the absence of a convincing public account that would remove the documented concern.

## People

- Viktor Orbán: https://factrail.ai/people/viktor-orban

## Drivers

- Digital-Surveillance Intensity: https://factrail.ai/drivers/digital-surveillance-intensity
- Media Freedom: https://factrail.ai/drivers/media-freedom
- Illiberal state capture in Hungary: https://factrail.ai/drivers/orban-illiberal-state-capture
- Institutional Corruption: https://factrail.ai/drivers/institutional-corruption

## Sources

- https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/07/hungary-the-government-must-provide-a-meaningful-response-to-the-pegasus-scandal/
- https://commission.europa.eu/publications/2024-rule-law-report-communication-and-country-chapters_en
- https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/pegasus-project
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/03/hungary-spyware-surveillance-targeting-journalists-and-civil-society

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/hu-pegasus-2021