Public Media from Michigan State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

How governments use spyware to monitor citizens’ phones

Season 2024 Episode 344 | 7m 16s

This past week, the White House detailed the scope of a massive Chinese hacking campaign that reaped information from American cell phone networks. But an HBO original documentary, “Surveilled,” says some governments use commercial spyware to monitor their own citizens. To learn more, John Yang speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, who produced the documentary.

Major corporate funding for the PBS News Hour is provided by BDO, BNSF, Consumer Cellular, American Cruise Lines, and Raymond James. Funding for the PBS NewsHour Weekend is provided by Consumer Cellular and Cunard Cruise Line. For a complete list of funders for the PBS NewsHour and PBS NewsHour weekend, click here.
Extras
July 29, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode
The campaign against Fauci and what brought him back before Congress
Fauci invokes 5th Amendment right during GOP-led hearing on COVID origins
News Wrap: Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady, but some vote for increase
Former Iraqi diplomat on forces driving Iran war across region
Climate-fueled wildfires in Europe push emergency response to the limit
Jasmine Amy Rogers' Brief But Spectacular take on growing up a theater kid
Single women are outpacing single men in homeownership, but some face backlash
Journalist details weekend spent with far-right Proud Boys
Brief pause in Iran war ends with new attacks in Iraq and Egypt