Intelligence services used journalists in operations; regulator worried for their safety

The Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) and the General Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (AIVD) did not think enough about the security risks associated with using journalists as spies. Both services have to develop additional policies to better ensure the safety of these journalists, especially in high-risk countries. The regulator CTIVD stated this in a report on Friday.

The Dutch Review Committee on the Intelligence and Security Services (CTIVD) investigated all operations in which journalists were used as agents by the MIVD and AIVD from 2019 to 2023. The journalists hired by the AIVD have various nationalities, and intelligence has been collected in and about various countries. Journalists used by the MIVD live abroad and have foreign nationalities. The report did not mention the number of journalists used.

The research was conducted by the regulator due to the public and political discussion that occurred in 2022 on whether a ban was needed on intelligence services approaching journalists.

CTIVD claims that there is no reason to assume that the journalists were pressured into working as agents. During the recruitment, it was possible that they initially did not know that they were speaking with the AIVD. According to the recommendations, this is only allowed in exceptional circumstances because journalists have to be able to assess independently whether collaborating with the AIVD is worth the risk that comes with it.

Employees of the intelligence services make every effort to ensure that the deployment of journalists is as careful as possible, the monitoring report shows. However, the regulator saw incomplete files regarding the operations at the MIVD. There was a lack of information about the management and accountability of agents. The regulator added that they felt the MIVD failed in this aspect. “Incomplete record keeping poses risks to compliance with the duty of care for the agents involved.”

When using journalists for their operations, the services must follow the recommendations set on policy and work instructions within six months. It can never become public information that a journalist is working as an agent for the intelligence services.

Both services still struggle with the extra security risks and the protection of the identity of journalist sources.

De Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten (NVJ), known as the Dutch Association of Journalists in English, was shocked upon learning that the services had approached journalists. “There were suspicions for two years. We are shocked by the confirmation that the suspicions were correct,” said the association's general manager, Thomas Bruning.

Bruning added that he had already spoken to the Cabinet years ago to tell them this could not happen. “And yet now we see that it kept happening after this. We resent this. The government has to put a stop to it.”

The NVJ believes that journalists should be able to work independently. Bruning: “Our existence is connected to the credibility among the public. However, it is also about the safety of journalists in other countries. It is of added importance that they make it clear that they are not a part of the Dutch government. If you are seen as an extension of an intelligence service or police, that makes you vulnerable; it affects your credibility. This is very bad for the functionality of journalism.”