Despite President's Vow, Pegasus Spyware Targeted Mexican Journalists, Activist

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Photo by Gilles Lambert on Unsplash

With the technical support of researchers at Citizen Lab, Mexican digital rights organization R3D (Red en los Defensa de los Derechos Digitales) identified that NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware had infected the mobile phones of journalists and a human rights defender during the term of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador despite his government's assertions that it would stop using the Israeli spyware.

The infections occurred years after the Citizen Lab, along with partners R3D, SocialTic, and Article19 released a series of eight reports on widespread Pegasus targeting in Mexico. A scandal ensued after it was reported that at least 50 people in the circle of Lopez Obrador, Mexico’s current president, were among individuals potentially selected for surveillance with Pegasus between 2016-2017.

At the time, López Obrador assured …