PASADENA, Calif.—The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California today dismissed a lawsuit brought by journalists and other members of El Faro—one of Central America’s foremost independent news organizations—who were the victims of spyware attacks using NSO Group’s Pegasus technology. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and Selendy Gay PLLC, which represent the journalists, had urged the court to deny NSO Group’s renewed motion to dismiss the case following an appeals court decision vacating a previous dismissal and remanding the case to the district court for further consideration. 

“The court’s decision is disappointing, but we intend to appeal. Spyware manufacturers that participate in the persecution of journalists shouldn’t be able to operate with impunity, and U.S. courts must ensure that they are held accountable for their actions where those actions violate U.S. law,” said Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney and legislative advisor at the Knight First Amendment Institute. “We will continue to seek justice on behalf of El Faro journalists in U.S. court, where the case belongs.”

In November 2022, the Knight Institute filed the lawsuit alleging that NSO Group violated U.S. law by developing, selling, and assisting in the deployment of Pegasus against El Faro. Between June 2020 and November 2021, El Faro’s employees were subjected to at least 226 Pegasus infections. Through these attacks, their iPhones were accessed remotely and surreptitiously, their communications and activities were monitored, and their personal data was accessed and stolen. In recent years, NSO Group’s spyware has been used by authoritarian and rights-abusing regimes to target journalists, human rights activists, and political dissidents around the world. This case is the first filed by journalists against NSO Group in U.S. court.

Read today’s decision here. 

Read more about the case, Dada v. NSO Group, here.

In addition to DeCell, lawyers on the case include Jameel Jaffer, Alex Abdo, Stephanie Krent, and Nicola Morrow for the Knight First Amendment Institute, and Corey Stoughton for Selendy Gay PLLC.