A California federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Salvadoran journalists from El Faro against NSO Group, the maker of Pegasus spyware. The judge found the court lacked jurisdiction, a significant setback for the plaintiffs.
The Knight First Amendment Institute filed the suit in November 2022 on behalf of Carlos Dada and colleagues. The complaint alleged Pegasus was deployed against them at least 226 times between June 2020 and November 2021, with attacks intensifying before major investigations were published. This was the first U.S. case against NSO.
The plaintiffs argued California was proper because the attacks used compromised infrastructure in the state. But the court agreed with a March 2024 ruling that described the case as "entirely foreign." The journalists had sought an order requiring NSO to delete collected data and identify the client who ordered the surveillance. NSO did not respond to a request for comment.
The Knight Institute said it plans to appeal, leaving open the possibility the case could be revived.