Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025

Al-Jazeera Journalist: I Was 'Traumatized' by Pegasus Spyware

Al-Jazeera Journalist: I Was 'Traumatized' by Pegasus Spyware

Is spyware originally designed to track terrorists being used to harass and intimidate female activists and journalists from the Middle East?

In interviews with NBC News, some of the region’s most prominent women activists and reporters claimed that governments were using “Pegasus” surveillance technology to hack their phones and leak details of their private lives in an effort to undermine their reputations and prevent them from calling governments to account for abuses of power.

“I am used to being harassed online. But this was different,” said Ghada Oueiss, a Lebanese broadcast journalist with Al-Jazeera. “It was as if someone had entered my home, my bedroom, my bathroom. I felt so unsafe and traumatized.”

The use of Pegasus, a set of software tools created and sold by the NSO group, an Israeli-based tech firm, to track journalists was first revealed in an investigation coordinated by Paris-based nonprofit organization Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International.

Researchers examining the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets identified by NSO Group’s government agency clients, traced many of the numbers to leading critics of Middle East regimes, including the family of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who was assassinated by Saudi agents.

One target of Pegasus surveillance was Oueiss, whose private photos — including an image of her in a jacuzzi wearing a bikini — were obtained and posted on Twitter.

Ghada Oueiss via NBC News


That led to an online harassment campaign. Oueiss reported receiving degrading messages from accounts that appeared to support Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, as well as verified government officials.

In messages, she was called old, ugly and a prostitute.

“They wanted to destroy the image of [me as] serious journalist who is not afraid to ask tough questions,” she told NBC News. “They wanted to say, ‘She’s trying to be professional and serious, but she’s just a prostitute and you shouldn’t believe her anymore.’

“I know they want to silence me, but I will not be silenced.”

She filed a lawsuit in December against the crown prince — as well as the United Arab Emirates ruler Mohamed bin Zayed and two Florida-based Twitter users who Oueiss said shared her photos online — alleging that she was targeted for her reporting on the Saudi regime with Pegasus spyware as part of a “broader campaign to silence her and other critics.” The defendants have filed motions to dismiss the case.

Alya Alhwaiti, a Saudi activist now living in London, also believes she was targeted by a so-called “hack-and-leak” attack.

She told NBC that her phone regularly froze, and she saw messages on screen suggesting that files were being transferred.

In 2018, her phone started behaving strangely: The device often froze. She received calls from strange numbers and occasionally messages appeared on screen indicating that files were being transferred, she said.

At the same time, she was receiving threats and intimidating messages online that she said she believes were from individuals connected to the Saudi government.

Alya Ahlwaiti via NBC News


Ahlwaiti, who was Saudi Arabia’s first professional female equestrian and represented the country in sporting events, said she went to police who told she had been hacked and advised her to get a new phone.

But, she told NBC, in the summer of 2020, pictures on her phone appeared online in Twitter accounts showing her wearing a short dress or sunbathing, accompanied by fabricated stories suggesting she was promiscuous.

A digital forensic firm called Citizen Lab found traces of Pegasus on her phone and suggested once again that she get a new one.

But she no longer feels safe, Ahlwaiti said.

“I feel like I am being watched and I always have to watch behind my shoulder,” she said.

NSO Group licenses the spyware to governments to track terrorists and criminals who use encrypted devices, according to the company’s website.

NSO Group spokesperson Louis Rynsard told NBC News that the company “does not have sight” of the surveillance targets its government clients select, although NSO Group carries out “‘compliance checks’” to reduce the chance of misuse.

Amnesty International has called on governments to issue a moratorium on the export, sale and use of surveillance technology until a human-rights-compliant regulatory framework is established.

The situation spotlights the danger of surveillance technologies, particularly for women.

Pegasus is a spyware tool and a weapon used against freedom of the press, freedom of expression, human rights activism and journalism,” said Rasha Abdul Rahim, director of Amnesty Tech, a division of Amnesty International focused on technology and surveillance tools. “Women’s freedom of expression is abused and targeted in a very specific way both online and offline.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
×