Saudi satirist triumphs in court after Pegasus spyware hack exposes digital surveillance abuse

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Tech Crunch, click this post to read the original article.

The London High Court has awarded over £3 million ($4.1 million) in damages to Ghanem Al-Masarir, a Saudi satirist and human rights activist who lives in London. You may be interested to know that the court found strong evidence showing that Al-Masarir’s phone was hacked using Pegasus, a highly advanced spyware tool sold only to governments. Al-Masarir runs a popular YouTube channel where he often criticizes the Saudi government. He claimed his phone was targeted in 2018, and around the same time, he was also physically assaulted in London. He believes both attacks were carried out by agents working for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Al-Masarir said the combination of digital spying and physical attacks led to depression and ended his YouTube career. You’re likely aware of the use of surveillance tools like Pegasus, which security researchers say are often used alongside real-world attacks. Despite Saudi Arabia’s argument that it should be immune from legal action, the High Court disagreed. This mirror’s an earlier case related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, where Saudi Arabia successfully claimed state immunity. However, the court ruled differently in Al-Masarir’s case, stating there was clear evidence linking the spyware attack to the Saudi government.

Justice Pushpinder Saini, who led the ruling, said it was likely that the Saudi government or its agents directly carried out or approved the hacking of Al-Masarir’s phones. He also concluded that the Saudi state probably played a role in the physical assault. Once Saudi Arabia’s claim to immunity was rejected, it chose not to participate further in the legal process. As of now, it’s unclear if Saudi Arabia will comply with the court’s order to pay damages or if it will appeal the decision.

The NSO Group, the maker of Pegasus spyware, did not respond to questions about the case. Similarly, there’s been no comment from the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. For now, the court’s judgment stands as a strong precedent against state-sponsored digital surveillance and attacks on critics living abroad.