Mahua Moitra writes to Speaker over Apple alerts

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla flagging alerts received by several opposition leaders about "state-sponsored" attacks on their iPhones, and urged him to provide them protection to continue doing their duties.

This "illegal surveillance by the government" is the worst attack on fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, the Krishnanagar MP said.

Prataprao Jadhav, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, told PTI that the panel would act on the issue if anyone flags the matter to it.

On Tuesday, several opposition leaders including Moitra, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, AAP's Raghav Chadha, Congress' Shashi Tharoor and his party's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, and Communist Party of India-Marxist general Sitaram Yechury claimed to have received alerts from Apple about "state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise" their iPhones.

They posted purported screenshots of the message on their X handles.

In her letter to Birla, Moitra said opposition leaders received a message that they were "being targeted by state-sponsored attackers" who were attempting to remotely compromise the devices and access their data, communications and "even the camera and microphone".

"This threat is doubly shocking in light of the Pegasus software (sold only to governments) that was used to compromise the devices of various members of the opposition, dissenting journalists and members of civil society during 2019-2021.

"Honourable Shri Abhishek Banerjee, MP, National General Secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress, the party I represent in Lok Sabha, was one of the targets. In spite of the opposition raising this issue in the House, no debate was allowed and no conclusive report has been filed by any agency," she said.

"We are representatives of the Parliament of India, the largest democracy in the world. This illegal surveillance by the government using software available only to state actors is the worst attack on our fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of our great democracy," she added.

Moitra called on Birla to immediately provide protection to opposition leaders.

"You, sir, are the proverbial keeper of the faith, the guardian of the Lok Sabha and the ultimate parent to each of its members. It is in this capacity that I ask you to immediately provide us the protection required for us to continue doing our duties as a vibrant opposition which is to question and hold to account the ruling dispensation," she said.

Moitra said international organisations such as 'Access Now' and 'Citizen Lab' confirmed in September the validity of Apple's threat notifications and lent it "enormous credibility".

She also cited a Financial Times investigative report, 'The Predator Files', which claimed the Indian government was potentially escalating its budget for spyware contracts to USD 120 million involving companies like Intellexa Alliance.

The government has rejected opposition leaders' claims and ordered an investigation into the matter.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday that Apple has been asked to join the investigation with real and accurate information on the alleged state-sponsored attacks.

Speaking to PTI, Prataprao Jadhav, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, said he has taken note of the reports about the alleged attacks on iPhones of several opposition leaders.

"The issue is not before the committee. If anyone flags the issue to the committee, we can decide the future course of action," he said.

Reacting to opposition leaders' claims, iPhone-maker Apple Inc said on Tuesday that it does not attribute threat notifications, such as the ones received by some MPs belonging to opposition parties, to any specific state-sponsored attackers.

It is possible that some threat notifications may be false alarms and some attacks may not be detected, it said.