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WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a high-profile lawsuit filed by an Israeli spyware maker seeking to block the WhatsApp messaging service.
The judge reserved the lower court’s ruling against Israeli company NSO Group. WhatsApp claims that NSO targeted approximately 1,400 users of the encrypted messaging service using highly sophisticated spyware.
WhatsApp’s parent company, Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms Inc., is trying to prevent NSO from using Facebook’s platform and servers and recover unspecified damages.
NSO argues that it should be recognized as an agent of a foreign government and therefore entitled to immunity under U.S. law that limits lawsuits against foreign countries. The request appeals against two earlier federal court rulings that rejected similar arguments from the Israeli company.
The Biden administration recommended that the court dismiss the appeal. “NSO is clearly not entitled to immunity here,” the Justice Department wrote.
NSO’s flagship product, Pegasus, allows operators to covertly infiltrate a target’s phone, accessing messages and contacts, camera and microphone, and location history. Only government law enforcement agencies can purchase the product, NSO said, and all sales are approved by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. It does not identify its customers.
WhatsApp said at least 100 of the users linked to its lawsuit were journalists, activists and members of civil society. Critics say NSO’s clients include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Poland, which have abused the system to spy on critics and silence dissent.
NSO said it had safeguards in place to prevent misuse, although the company also said it had no control over how customers used the product.
The WhatsApp case is one of a series of legal disputes plaguing NSO. In a separate lawsuit, Apple said its purpose is to prevent NSOs from hacking products. It claimed that Pegasus had affected a small number of iPhone users around the world, calling NSO employees “unscrupulous 21st century mercenaries”.
In November, journalists for an investigative news outlet in El Salvador also sued NSO in US court after Pegasus spyware was detected on their iPhones.
“NSO’s spyware has enabled cyberattacks against human rights activists, journalists, and government officials. We strongly believe their actions violate US law and they must be held accountable for their illegal actions,” WhatsApp spokesman Carl Woog said in a statement. said in.
Lawyers prosecuting the journalists also praised the court’s action. “Today’s decision clears the way for lawsuits brought by tech companies, as well as by journalists and human rights advocates who are victims of spyware attacks,” said senior attorney at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute Carrie DeCell , said in a statement.
In its own statement, NSO said: “We are confident that the courts will find that its customers’ use of Pegasus is lawful.”
NSO has also been blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department, restricting its access to U.S. technology. U.S. officials say the company’s products are complicit in “transnational repression.” (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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