This is a companion blogpost to our report “A Digital Prison” – Surveillance and the Suppression of Civil Society in Serbia. 

In response to the Bangkok Civil Court’s dismissal of Thai activist, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa’s lawsuit against NSO Group Technologies Ltd for allegedly failing to prevent him from being targeted with spyware, Amnesty International’s Thailand Researcher Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong said: 

A firewall is like a security guard for your computer or a network. It watches the data that comes in and goes out and decides whether to allow it or block it based on a set of security rules. In principle, a firewall on your own devices isn’t a bad thing. It can help protect your system from cyber criminals and other threats by keeping unwanted or harmful data out or specific data in. 

Forensic Architecture undertook 15 months of extensive open-source research, interviews assisted by Laura Poitras, and developed bespoke software to present this data as an interactive 3D platform, along with video investigations narrated by Edward Snowden to tell the stories of the individuals targeted and the web of corporate affiliations within which NSO is nested. Supported by Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab, the analysis reveals relations and patterns between separate incidents in the physical and digital sphere, demonstrating how infections are entangled with real world violence, and extend within the professional and personal networks of civil society actors worldwide.

On 11 October 2024, the UK’s High Court ruled that Saudi activist Yahya Assiri can continue his legal challenge against Saudi Arabia for being targeted with spyware while living in the UK. 

Amnesty International has filed an amicus curiae brief to the Bangkok Civil Court on the applicable international and regional human rights law and standards on the right to privacy, the right to an effective remedy, and human rights due diligence, in relation to the case Jatupat Boonpattararaksa vs. NSO Group Technologies Ltd.

In July 2024, Amnesty Tech and Amnesty Netherlands hosted an event to explore the intersection of tech, gender, and inequality in Amsterdam.  

Responding to a Forbidden Stories-led investigation, supported by the Amnesty International’s Security Lab, on the government of Israel’s attempts to sway WhatsApp’s ongoing US lawsuit against spyware firm NSO Group, Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of the Security Lab at Amnesty International, said:

Amnesty International’s Security Lab has launched new features on its website, adding to the existing range of tools, resources and research to support human rights defenders, activists, journalists and other civil society members against digital attacks, including spyware.

Amnesty International’s Security Lab is a team of researchers, hackers, coders, advocates and campaigners. We strive to create a world where civil society is free from unlawful targeted surveillance and other human rights violations enabled by technology. 

Women and LGBTI activists in Thailand are being subjected to an online onslaught of abusive speech laced with misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic language, sexualized content and other forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TfGBV), Amnesty International said in a new report released today.

The Digital Security Resource Hub was prepared by Amnesty International’s Security Lab for human rights defenders, activists, journalists and other members of civil society. This hub provides an overview of a variety of resources ranging from risk analysis support to helplines to tools that you can use to strengthen your digital and information security practices.