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US Supreme Court says WhatsApp can sue Pegasus makers

January 9, 2023

The creators of Pegasus spy software, Israel's NSO Group, argued that they were acting as agents of foreign officials, which would make them immune to Meta's lawsuit.

https://p.dw.com/p/4LvXH
A hand holding a smartphone with NSO logo visible on the screen
NSO group has argued it has safeguards in place, but cannot control its clientsImage: Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva/dpa/picture alliance

Social media giant Meta Platforms Inc. can pursue its lawsuit against NSO Group over the Pegasus spyware scandal, the US Supreme Court decided on Monday.

The Israeli software company is facing accusations of installing Pegasus on servers used by WhatsApp messaging platform, owned by Meta, in 2019. NSO Group allegedly did this by exploiting a bug and without permission from the social media platform. The move has allowed for spying of some 1,400 WhatsApp users, including journalists, activists and dissidents by various governments.

NSO not entitled to immunity

Meta, previously Facebook, is now trying to block NSO Group from its platforms and also charge them for unspecified damages.

"NSO's spyware has enabled cyberattacks targeting human rights activists, journalists and government officials," Meta said following Monday's ruling. "We firmly believe that their operations violate US law and they must be held to account for their unlawful operations."

But the spyware makers argued they should be given immunity as they were acting as agents of foreign governments.

Pegasus: the invisible spy

While the company itself does not identify its clients, its critics say the list included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Hungary, Spain and Poland. The Israeli defense ministry is approving all Pegasus sales. Throughout the scandal, NSO Group argued they had no control over how its clients use the product.

US law protects foreign officials acting in their official capacity. However, the Biden administration has already stated that such protection had never been assigned to a private company, with the US Justice Department saying that NSO was "plainly" not entitled to immunity.

The US Supreme Court has now confirmed this stance.

Apple also pursuing a lawsuit

Commenting on the verdict, the Israeli firm pledged to keep fighting.

"We are confident that the court will determine that the use of Pegasus by its customers was legal," they said.

The company is also facing another lawsuit from Apple, which described them as "amoral 21st century mercenaries."

The Pegasus scandal grabbed international scandals in 2021 following an investigation by 17 media organizations, led by journalism group Forbidden Stories. Perhaps most notably, the reporters claim that Pegasus was used to target people close to late Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi before he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

dj/msh (AP, Reuters)