A group of 86 human rights groups and independent experts said Friday that the European Union should add the Israeli cyber-surveillance firm NSO Group, whose spyware was allegedly used by foreign governments to target dissidents around the world, to its global sanctions list.
In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International referenced a report last month that NSO’s Pegasus surveillance software was used to hack the cellphones of six Palestinian rights activists, at least half of whom were linked to groups controversially deemed terrorist organizations by the Israeli government.