Dozens of human rights organisations have called on the European Union to impose global sanctions on the NSO Group and take every action necessary to prevent the sale, transfer, export and import of the Israeli company's surveillance technology.
The Guardian and other publications reported recently that NSO's signature surveillance software, known as Pegasus, was used to hack the phones of six Palestinian human rights activists.
The publication of the Pegasus Project last summer, an investigation by the Guardian and 15 other media organisations, was coordinated by French media organisation Forbidden Stories. It exposed the ways in which Pegasus has been used to target journalists, human rights activists and other members of the civil society.
NSO said that it was only meant to be used against serious criminals and terrorists, and that it has been sold to government clients around the world. It has denied many of the allegations that are included in the Pegasus Project and has said it investigates credible claims of abuse of its software.
The Biden administration added the NSO Group to the Commerce Department's entities list last month, a trade restriction that in effect means the company has been blacklisted in the US. The company said it would try to reverse the administration's designation.
It is not clear how many EU member states will respond to the call for a boycott. The allegations that the Hungarian government has used NSO Group software to target journalists and critics of the prime minister, Viktor Orb n, have been met with intense concern within the European Commission. Other EU states are believed to be clients, including Spain. Germany s internal police also use the spyware.
The letter was sent to the EU's ambassador for foreign affairs and security, Josep Borrell.
In response to recent queries about NSO's long-term viability in the face of political and financial pressures, NSO stated in a statement: NSO Group remains strong, proud and confident, and we will continue to provide technologies to help law enforcements catch paedophiles, terrorists and criminals.