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Reporters Without Borders condemns targeting of journalists revealed by Pegasus project; announces intention to bring legal action against perpetrators
Shocked by the revelations by a consortium of media outlets that nearly 200 journalists in 20 countries were targeted for surveillance by clients of NSO Group, the Israeli company that sells the Pegasus spyware, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announces its intention to bring legal action against those responsible for this mass surveillance.
“This is appalling,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “The revelations about the use of the Pegasus spyware inspire shock and revulsion, given the extent of the surveillance and targeting of journalists. No, NSO Group does not contribute to ‘global security and stability,’ contrary to what the company claims. Pegasus is a vile and loathsome tool, invented by digital mercenaries and prized by ‘press freedom predators’ for use in persecuting journalists.”
“In 2020, we branded NSO Group as a ‘digital predator’ and contributed to WhatsApp’s lawsuit against the Israeli company in the United States. We will do everything to ensure that NSO Group is punished for the crimes it has committed and the tragedies it has made possible. The justice systems in democratic countries must address this extremely serious matter, establish the facts and punish those responsible. RSF is currently deciding on the legal action it will take in one or more countries. We urge targeted journalists and media to contact us in order to join in an appropriate legal response to the revelations about the Pegasus spyware.”
The European Parliament's PEGA committee is investigating the use of spyware across Europe, revealing widespread misuse against journalists, activists, and politicians, and calling for stricter regulation and institutional reforms to protect democratic values.
Pegasus became the center of controversy after an international media consortium reported it was used in attempts to hack smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists, business executives, and officials in some 50 countries.
Washington Post editorial acknowledges importance of US decision to blacklist NSO Group, calls for tackling the rest of the sprawling and shadowy spyware industry that threatens civil society around the globe.
CSOs & experts request U.N. Human Rights Council to urgently denounce & mandate independent investigations into situation of human rights violations facilitated by sale, export, transfer, & use of surveillance technology
Five organisations call upon the European Commission and EU member states to follow up on their promise of creating a transparent market in cyber-surveillance technologies bound by effective human rights safeguards.
Usama Khilji, Director of Bolo Bhi, writes that the Pegasus scandal has clearly demonstrated the dangers posed by the unchecked sale of surveillance technology to governments.
Civil society groups say the Pegasus revelations should be a wake-up call for the urgent need to protect the right to privacy. The groups say the government should carry out surveillance reform that ensures independent judicial oversight, and provides for judicial remedy, as well as a data protection framework that respects rights.
Bahraini human rights activists, including an activist from the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, were hacked with NSO's Pegasus spyware. The zero-click attack defeated new security protections that Apple designed to withstand covert compromises, say researchers at Citizen Lab.
David Haigh and Tiina Jauhiainen, two associates of the emir of Dubai’s daughter, have joined a group of potential claimants considering legal action in the wake of the Pegasus scandal after their phones were allegedly targeted with NSO spyware.
Seventeen journalists from seven countries who were listed as potential or actual victims of Pegasus spyware have filed complaints with prosecutors in Paris
WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, meaning messages shared via the platform are, under normal circumstances, highly secure—a feature that has made it attractive for journalists, human rights defenders, and other vulnerable users, particularly in repressive environments. In an interview with CPJ Will Cathcart, the chief executive of WhatsApp, says spyware subverting end-to-end encryption is a threat to democracy and expresses concerns about attacks on human rights defenders.
A London law firm is considering bringing legal proceedings on behalf of nine British people who were allegedly targeted by the Pegasus mobile phone spyware created by the Israeli company NSO Group.
The Committee to Protect Journalists spoke to David Kaye, former Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion & expression, about the Pegasus Project and why surveillance reform should reach beyond NSO Group and Israel.
Human Rights Watch reports that NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has been used for surveillance of dozens of journalists, human rights activists, and others demonstrate the urgent need for governments to suspend the trade in surveillance technology until rights-protecting regulatory frameworks are in place. Human Rights Watch says governments should immediately cease their own use of surveillance technologies in ways that violate human rights.
Amnesty International Australia has written to Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews, reiterating that the surveillance industry must no longer be afforded a laissez-faire approach from governments with a vested interest in using this technology to commit human rights violations.
The London-headquartered private equity firm is to be wound up following a months-long dispute between its three principals and controversy over its ownership of the surveillance technology provider NSO Group
In this joint open letter, 146 civil society organizations and 28 independent experts worldwide call on states to implement an immediate moratorium on the sale, transfer and use of surveillance technology. The signatories highlight the key human rights implications of the Pegasus project's exposé and issue a series of recommendations to states, as well as to states that export surveillance technology.
This briefing highlights key insights into the human rights risks from digital surveillance technology, such as the improper breadth of targeting under international human rights law; the tool’s clandestine nature; the severe resulting human rights violations; states and companies’ impunity; and states’ failure to protect their residents from illegal hacking and surveillance.
A Moroccan court has sentenced journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi to six years in jail on charges of espionage and rape, offences which he has denied. Days before the trial began in June 2020, an Amnesty International investigation suggested the Moroccan authorities had planted Israel-made Pegasus spyware on Radi's cellphone.
A Forbidden Stories investigation finds that at least 180 journalists around the globe have been spied on by the clients of NSO Group through its software Pegasus
Governments and NSO Group respond to questions sent by the Pegasus project on the abuse of spyware software to targets activists, journalists and human rights defenders
An investigative consortium of 17 organisations alleges widespread abuse of NSO's spyware Pegasus, which governments across the world have been using to hack activists, journalists and politicians
Amnesty International’s Security Lab published a forensic methodology report into how they verified the presence of NSO Group's spyware Pegasus on infected mobile phones