Judge tosses Salvadoran journalists’ suit against Israeli spyware supplier

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by Salvadoran journalists from El Faro against NSO Group, the blacklisted Israeli spyware maker, ruling California lacked personal jurisdiction over claims that hackers used Pegasus software to compromise at least 22 employees' iPhones between 2020 and 2021. Judge James Donato wrote that none of the alleged conduct had anything to do with California, despite NSO's use of Apple's California-based servers.

The journalists had argued an unnamed foreign government used Pegasus to surveil El Faro staff as part of an effort to undermine independent journalism in El Salvador. Donato found the phones were compromised while the journalists were in El Salvador, not the U.S., undercutting the jurisdictional claim even with one U.S. citizen and two U.S. residents among the plaintiffs.

This is the second time Donato has dismissed the case on venue grounds; a 9th Circuit panel previously revived it after finding he'd overlooked the plaintiffs' U.S. ties. The journalists said they intend to appeal, with the Knight First Amendment Institute calling for spyware makers to be held accountable in U.S. courts.

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