UAE Faces Fresh Legal Action Over Alleged Hacking and Spying
In a recent scandal concerning Abu Dhabi’s controversial history, an Arab media figure has taken legal action against the Emirates for allegedly hacking and surveilling her phone. This lawsuit poses a threat to the prosecution of high-ranking Emirati officials.
The issue revolves around journalist Rania Al-Daridi, who has been granted permission by the British Supreme Court to pursue legal action against the Emirati government for the hacking of her phone. This marks the first instance of such a case in the United Kingdom.
The law firm, Leigh Day, said that the Supreme Court ruled that Rania Al-Daridi could submit her claim that the UAE government used the Pegasus spyware to hack her phone up to six times between 2019 and 2020.
She added in a statement that the court “agrees that there is an arguable case” against the UAE government.
Dridi’s phone was hacked anyway through a so-called zero-click attack, which allows a hacker to break into a phone or computer even if the user does not open a malicious link or attachment.
Media and human rights investigations over recent years revealed that the UAE hacked into hundreds of phones belonging to politicians and journalists, including dozens of journalists on Al Jazeera TV and Al Arabi TV, where Al Dridi worked.
Allowing a scenario like this could result in the potential prosecution of Emirati officials in the United Kingdom, given the increased scrutiny on Abu Dhabi’s commercial endeavors due to the alleged conspiracies it is involved in.
The global One Free Press Coalition, which specializes in press freedom issues, previously highlighted the UAE’s spying and hacking scandals to monitor journalists and opinion activists to suppress freedom of expression.
The Free Press Coalition has placed the human rights activist and blogger Ahmed Mansoor, a prisoner of conscience in the Emirates, on the list of ten whose cases are considered the “most urgent” in the world.
The coalition stated that Mansoor was targeted by hackers affiliated with the UAE regime several times starting in 2011, when the Committee to Protect Journalists documented threats and legal actions related to his blog.
The coalition stated that it has compiled a list of the ten most pressing issues for October 2021, considering the growing number of reports exposing the widespread use of spyware to surveil journalists, which constitutes a menace to the freedom of the press.
“While surveillance of journalists is not a new phenomenon, the lengths to which bad actors go to silence the press and rapid technological advances have exacerbated the problem,” the coalition said.
“Around the world, governments have used sophisticated spyware products designed to combat crime to target the press,” he added.
The coalition also emphasized that spyware can uncover the sources and whereabouts of journalists, along with other sensitive data, which could result in censorship, hinder their work, or endanger them and their sources.
CPJ has additionally discovered that these assaults frequently coincide with other infringements on press liberty and impede journalists’ capacity to report on crucial topics like politics and corruption.
