Digital Rights Weekly Update: 17 - 23 October

US court orders spyware company NSO to stop targeting WhatsApp, reduces damages

The New Arab

A U.S. court has ordered Israel's NSO Group to stop targeting Meta Platforms' WhatsApp messaging service, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business. In a 25-page ruling handed down Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton imposed a permanent injunction on NSO Group's efforts to break into WhatsApp, one of the world's most widely used communications platforms. Hamilton also handed NSO a significant break on the damages awarded in a recently concluded jury trial, reducing the punitive damages it owes Meta from about $167 million to $4 million. The injunction is likely to pose a challenge to NSO, which has for years been accused of facilitating human rights abuses through its flagship hacking tool, Pegasus.

Trump’s TikTok deal presents new challenge for Palestine’s defenders

The Electronic Intifada

US President Donald Trump has announced a $14 billion deal to acquire TikTok, involving investors such as Rupert Murdoch, Michael Dell, and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, raising concerns for Palestinian digital advocacy. Activists have increasingly used TikTok to document opposition to Israeli colonial policies, but the proposed acquisition by pro-Israel-aligned figures could threaten the platform’s utility for such activism. Ellison’s ties to Israeli military and political interests, along with Oracle’s data infrastructure and AI involvement, heighten fears that the deal could enable increased surveillance and control over content critical of Israel.

The Role of Tech Companies in Conflicts: The Deadly Consequences of Online Disinformation in SWANA

Digital Action

Tech companies play a critical role in shaping access to information during conflicts in the SWANA region, but their content moderation practices have deadly consequences. Over-enforcement of policies removes crucial life-saving content and documentation of human rights abuses, while under-enforcement allows disinformation and hate speech to flourish. Algorithmic amplification often spreads sensational or misleading content more widely than reliable reporting, undermining public safety and accountability. Cases in Sudan, Palestine, and Syria highlight how these failures put civilians and journalists at risk, demonstrating the urgent need for accountable, rights-based moderation that prioritizes both information access and safety.

Digitized Captivity: AI surveillance and the global fabric of policing

Scalawag

AI-powered surveillance technologies developed and tested in the context of Israel’s occupation of Palestine are increasingly being exported and adopted globally in policing and border enforcement. Companies like Corsight AI, in collaboration with former Israeli military officials, have created facial recognition and biometric systems used in Gaza and by U.S. law enforcement, illustrating how tools of occupation become part of transnational security infrastructure. This technology conflates political dissent with terrorism, normalizing extensive surveillance, predictive policing, and control mechanisms, and highlights how practices honed in Palestine serve as a “proof of concept” for global policing and digital captivity.