- Spying on personal phones and computers to find out about jour- nalists’ plans and itineraries as well as other information on their activ- ities, to put more pressure on them and make them aware they are all being monitored. - Using various means to provide crews with false information and documents to defame them later and hurt their credibility and that of the media network to which they belong. - Creating obstacles and difficulties for the programme produc- tions by putting pressure on witnesses and potential guests, so they do not appear on Al Jazeera for testimony. Those pressures sometimes benefit from the anti-Al Jazeera environment that exists particularly in some Arab countries. Those and other types of pressures are usually applied by entities (state and non-state actors, lobbies, pressure groups, and mega compa- nies misusing the laws) that feel threatened or harmed by Al Jazeera’s investigations, especially if their activities involve illicit dealings such as money laundering, corruption, abuse, espionage, etc.. What puts Al Jazeera in confrontation with such a wide range of powers is its wide spectrum of investigations produced on a number of sensitive issues. This includes the activities of the Israeli lobby in the UK and the U.S., the Cyprus investment for passports scheme, the leaked documents on the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the arm trade lobby in Australia, cor- ruption in Bangladesh, money laundering in the UEA, far-right groups in the U.S. and spying on Al Jazeera. For example, one of the threats against the crew of “ The Hidden is More Immense ” investigative pro- gramme was the employment of an advanced Israeli spyware to target the phones and communication network used by the journalists con- cerned. The Al Jazeera IT security team, in collaboration with a special- ist hacking research centre in Canada managed to disclose the attempt. (1) Conclusion Al Jazeera has long dedicated huge financial, technical, and pro- fessional training to secure the activities of its journalists and protect its field crews wherever they might be operating. It also provides legal
(1) Ibid.
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