The Pegasus Prison
Divya Patel
In an age of digital technology beyond our wildest imaginations, it seems as though anything is possible. Smartphones, the Internet, and social media have enabled individuals and groups to share information, start social movements, and bring awareness to issues almost anywhere in the world. Journalists now have the ability to share their stories with global audiences and we are all better off as a result. Unfortunately, the rapid rise of digital media and technological growth has also produced some possibly deadly consequences. Although journalists, political dissidents, and human rights activists now have a much larger platform, their free expression and even their lives are at risk.
Recently, a consortium of media outlets dubbed “The Pegasus Project” have uncovered a list of over 50,000 phone numbers that are the current and future targets of Israeli-based cyberarms company NSO Group’s spyware, “Pegasus.” Additionally, the spyware targeted the phones of at least 37 activists and several French cabinet members, the most notable being French President Emmanuel Macron. The software was sold to a plethora of governments such as India and Saudi Arabia for what they claimed to be surveillance of “terrorists.” The spyware can hack into almost any mobile device using “zero-click” attacks, a method that doesn’t require the user to interact with the malware in order to be installed. Oftentimes, it will exploit the flaws and bugs in the device without leaving a trace so that the user doesn’t know that they have been hacked. Pegasus can perform 24 hour surveillance on its target, intercepting communications and taking over a device’s camera and video systems. Not only is this a blatant violation of user rights, but it is incredibly dangerous to the security, health, and safety of political dissidents and journalists; if autocratic governments are able to survey their opponents and their sources, they could be jailed, expelled, or killed. These individuals and their work are vital to democracy and the protection of human rights around the world, and the existence of such technology threatens these very foundations. In some ways, Pegasus is a prison for those trying to expose human rights violations.
Due to this broad overreach of power by a private company on the world’s citizens, one question that comes to mind is how can it be stopped? The scandal reinforces existing oppressive intimidation habits by governments around the world. For example, Pegasus spyware was found on the devices of Jamal Khashoggi’s family members, a Saudi Arabian columnist for the Washington Post that was allegedly murdered by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. Additionally, Palestinian activists claim that the malware was first tested in Palestine, only multiplying their persecution by Israel’s defense forces. Many more governments, including the UAE and India, have spied on their citizens using Pegasus, and chances are that the use of similar technologies will only grow.
Unfortunately, many of the NSO Group’s practices are kept well under wraps due to the fact that they are a private company. In addition, the governments that utilize their technology have strict security measures pertaining to their use of Pegasus. However, in order to protect the rights of journalists, political dissidents, and activists, spyware such as Pegasus needs to be intensely regulated and more transparent to international human rights organizations such as the
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Until the tech can be implemented in accordance with international standards, a moratorium on the sale of this “life threatening” surveillance tech needs to be imposed. Israel should also review the export transactions of the NSO Group as its home country. If these measures cannot be taken, then the safety of those most essential to human rights transparency will continue to be silenced, threatened, and killed.