"Since Friday, July 19, over a dozen major U.S. technology companies and press organizations filed amicus curiae briefs in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to voice support for 18 current and former members of El Faro currently appealing the March dismissal of their lawsuit against the Israel-based company NSO Group, developer and vendor of the spyware known as Pegasus. The digital surveillance tool was used extensively from 2020 to 2021 to hack the iPhones of at least 22 current and former journalists and employees of El Faro in an unprecedented attack against regional press freedom.
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On March 8 of this year, Judge James Donato, of the Northern District of California, dismissed the case on the grounds of forum non conveniens, stating that the litigation 'belongs in a court in Israel or El Salvador, and not here.' 'To conclude otherwise,' he continued, 'would open the doors of the federal courts to lawsuits by foreign entities for conduct that occurred entirely outside the United States.'
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One amicus brief in support of El Faro, submitted on July 22 by companies including Microsoft and Google, rebutted the dismissal: 'The United States and California have fundamental interests in protecting domestic technology companies from having NSO use their products and services as spyware vectors.'"
