On Monday, the US Supreme Court approved the filing of a lawsuit by Meta Platforms Inc.-owned messaging service WhatsApp against Israel’s NSO Group, alleging that the latter had installed spy software on 1,400 individuals, including journalists, human rights advocates, and dissidents, by taking advantage of a bug.
‘Today’s decision clears the path for lawsuits brought by the tech companies as well as for suits brought by journalists and human rights advocates who have been victims of spyware attacks,’ Carrie DeCell, a senior staff attorney, representing journalists in a separate lawsuit against NSO Group, said on Monday.
The justices rejected NSO’s appeal of a lower court’s decision to permit the dispute to continue. Due to its role as an agent for undisclosed foreign governments when it installed the ‘Pegasus’ spyware, NSO had contended that it was exempt from legal action.
The administration of President Joe Biden had urged the court to dismiss NSO’s appeal, pointing out that the US State Department has never in the past acknowledged a private organisation functioning as an agent of a foreign state as being entitled to immunity, Reuters reported.
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