Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – President Joe Biden asked the administration Monday to consider whether the Justices could hear a case about whether Meta Platforms Inc. WhatsApp’s lawsuit can be filed against Israel’s NSO Group. The suit alleges that the WhatsApp bug allowed Israel to spy on its users.

NSO appeals to a lower court decision that allowed the lawsuit to proceed is being considered by the justices. NSO argued it is exempt from suit because it was an agent of unidentified foreign countries when it deployed the “Pegasus” spyware.

WhatsApp claims that the software was used to monitor 1,400 individuals, which includes journalists and human rights activists.

On Monday, the Supreme Court asked the Justice Department for a brief expressing its opinions on the legal matter.

Meta Platforms was the parent organization of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter. It used to be known as Facebook Inc When the suit was filed, it was (NASDAQ:). NSO was sued by WhatsApp for injunctions and damages in October 2019. It claimed that it had accessed WhatsApp servers six months prior to installing the Pegasus program on targeted users’ mobile phones. NSO argued that Pegasus aids law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies in fighting crime and protecting national security.

NSO appealed against a July 2020 decision by a judge not to grant it conduct-based immunity, a common law doctrine that protects foreign officials from acting in official capacities.

San Francisco’s 9th U.S. affirmed that November ruling. Circuit Court of Appeals deemed the case an “easy case”, because NSOs licensing of Pegasus, and providing technical support to it did not protect it from liability under a federal law known as Foreign Sovereign Imities Act. Common law ruled.