The US Supreme Court on Monday asked President Joe Biden’s administration whether judges should hear a case on whether Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp accuses Israel’s NSO group of exploiting a bug in the messaging app to install spy software. can put
The judges are considering the appeal of the NSO’s lower court’s decision, which allowed the trial to proceed. NSO has argued that it is protected from being sued because it was acting as an agent for unknown foreign governments while installing the “Pegasus” spyware.
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WhatsApp has said the software was used to monitor 1,400 people, including journalists, human rights activists and dissidents.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Justice Department to file a short statement presenting its views on the legal issue.
Meta is the parent of the platforms WhatsApp and Facebook and was known as Facebook Inc when the lawsuit was filed. In October 2019, WhatsApp accused NSO of accessing WhatsApp servers without permission six months earlier to install Pegasus software on the mobile devices of targeted people, seeking injunctions and damages. NSO has argued that Pegasus helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national security.
The NSO appealed in July 2020 to a trial judge’s refusal to grant it “conduct-based immunity”, a common law principle that protects foreign officials acting in their official capacity.
Upholding that ruling last November, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called it an “easy case” because NSO’s offer of only Pegasus’s license and technical assistance made it liable under federal law called the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act. was not saved. , who took
Preference over common law.
Read more: French President Macron among potential Pegasus spyware targets: report
