U.S. Supreme Court asked Biden administration's whether to hear a lawsuit against NSO by Meta

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sought the Biden administration's opinion on whether to hear a lawsuit filed by Meta's subsidiary, WhatsApp, against the NSO group. The court is examining the appeal filed by NSO regarding a lower court decision, which allowed the lawsuit to proceed.
The spy company claimed to have acted as an agent for foreign governments whose identities were not disclosed when it installed the Pegasus software. The messaging app said the software was used to track 1,400 people, including journalists, human rights activists and regime opponents. The Supreme Court today asked the Ministry of Justice to submit a memorandum in which it delivers its opinion on the issue.
At the time of filing the lawsuit, Meta was still known as Facebook. In October 2019, WhatsApp sued NSO and sought a restraining order and compensation, after accusing the spy company of hacking into WhatsApp servers without a permit six months earlier in order to install the Pegasus spyware on the tracking devices' mobile devices. The spy company has repeatedly claimed that the spy is used to help law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national security.
In July 2020, the NSO petitioned against a judge's decision refusing to grant it "conduct-based immunity," a policy that protects foreign officials acting out of their official definition. Last November, the San Francisco Court of Appeals upheld this ruling, arguing that it was a "clear case" because the very licensing of Pegasus and its technical support offer did not protect NSO from liability under a federal law defined as a foreign sovereignty law, which takes precedence over The simple law.