BANGKOK (AP) – A Thai court recently threw out a lawsuit brought by a pro-democracy activist which alleged spyware produced by an Israeli tech firm had been used to hack his phone.
The Civil Court in Bangkok said Jatupat Boonpattararaksa had failed to provide sufficient proof that his phone was infected with Pegasus spyware produced by NSO Group Technologies.
Jatupat, also known as Pai Dao Din, had alleged that the NSO Group had violated his and other activists’ constitutional rights by facilitating the use of Pegasus to allegedly target them and extract data from their devices.
He had claimed his phone was infected on three occasions in 2021, a time of large-scale protests against. The NSO Group welcomed the ruling, saying it reaffirmed “the lack of evidence to support the claims against our company”.
“We remain committed to the responsible use of our technologies, which are exclusively provided to government agencies for the prevention of serious crimes and terrorism,” spokesperson Gil Lainer said in an email to The Associated Press.
“NSO operates under strict regulatory frameworks and ethical standards, and we will continue to cooperate with authorities to ensure our products are used lawfully and effectively.”
An investigation last year by Thai civil society group iLaw, Thai Internet freedom organisation DigitalReach and Canadian Internet watchdog group Citizen Lab found that 35 individuals in Thailand were targeted using Pegasus in 2020 and 2021.
Speaking outside the court, Jatupat, who had been a leader of street protests in 2021, said he had brought the suit to fight for people’s rights and freedoms.
“We fought for this because we wanted to prove whom the law will protect,” he said. “It is obvious today that the court chose to protect state security.”
Sutawan Chanprasert from DigitalReach called the ruling “disappointing”.
“I think there’s a lesson learned,” she said. “I think the reason the court gave will help us to prepare better for future cases.”
