Facing The Consequences: Access Now Welcomes Legal Action Against NSO Group

Access Now welcomes the new lawsuit filed today, April 5, in France against the Israeli spyware company NSO Group for facilitating the unlawful surveillance of French-Palestinian human rights defender, Salah Hammouri, through the use of its spyware Pegasus.

The legal action was submitted jointly by the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), the Human Rights League (LDH), and Salah Hammouri.

“Pegasus victims deserve justice,” said Marwa Fatafta, MENA Policy Manager at Access Now. “From Palestine to France, NSO Group has been enabling human rights abuses on a mass scale without real consequences. We support civil society’s new and ongoing efforts to hold this serial abuser to account.”

In October 2021, Front Line Defenders uncovered the hacking of six Palestinian activists using Pegasus — confirmed by the Citizen Lab and Amnesty International — including the device of Hammouri who was hacked in April 2021 and is currently detained by Israel authorities.

“Litigation remains an important tool in the fight against spyware abuses,” said Natalia Krapiva, Tech-Legal Counsel at Access Now. “Spyware companies like NSO Group and states that use their technologies should know: you will be held accountable.”

Access Now reiterates its call to the European Union to urgently sanction NSO Group and take all appropriate action to prohibit the sale, transfer, and use of NSO Group’s surveillance technologies until adequate human rights safeguards are in place.

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