Human Rights Watchdog Urges Israel to Revoke Export License for Spyware Company

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A prominent human rights organisation has called on the Israeli authorities to withdraw the export license for technology company NSO Group, which produces surveillance equipment allegedly used to violate human rights across the globe.

"NSO continues to profit from its spyware being used to commit abuses against activists across the world and the Israeli government has stood by and watched it happen," Danna Ingleton, the deputy director of Amnesty Tech, a branch of Amnesty International that focuses on surveillance, said.

She noted that the best way to prevent this was to hinder its ability to export its technology.

"The best way to stop NSO’s powerful spyware products reaching repressive governments is to revoke the company’s export license, and that is exactly what this legal case seeks to do," she said.

According to the human rights watchdog, the Pegasus software has targeted activists, journalists, and lawmakers in countries like Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

On Thursday, Tel Aviv’s District Court will start hearing arguments in the case, which seeks to make Israel's defence ministry restrict the NSO Group's activities after its Pegasus spyware was used against journalists and activists across the planet.