Morocco: Whistleblower Reveals How Authorities Used a Web of Surveillance to Silence Journalists and Activists
- Amnesty International released a report identifying the Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire as responsible for deploying Pegasus spyware against journalists and activists, contradicting Morocco's previous official denials of surveillance operations.
- A former DGST employee known as Safir detailed the agency's expansive surveillance apparatus in interviews conducted over several years, revealing how authorities use diverse tools to monitor, discredit, and silence critical voices within and beyond Morocco.
- The investigation matched 103 Moroccan phone numbers to targeted individuals, including 65 civil society members comprising 34 human rights defenders, 22 journalists, five lawyers, and four academics selected as potential Pegasus targets.
- Secretary General Agnés Callamard said Morocco has "wholly embraced techno-authoritarian practices," urging authorities to immediately end unlawful surveillance and calling for an independent investigation into all reported abuses.
- Morocco acquired surveillance technology from vendors in Israel, the United States, and France, establishing a repressive system that Amnesty International claims extends its reach across international borders.
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30 Articles
CPJ urges Morocco to end press surveillance following Amnesty report
New York, October 1, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Moroccan authorities to immediately end the unlawful surveillance of journalists, and hold those responsible to account. This demand follows a newly published Amnesty International report documenting the use of spyware and other surveillance methods by Morocco’s intelligence services to monitor journalists, human rights defenders, and...
El Periódico
Morocco has been using spy software for years to track and chase detractors both inside and outside the country, including Spanish and French politicians. This is confirmed by a new Amnesty International report that exposes a vast network of surveillance woven against dozens of activists, journalists and other people uncomfortable with the regime of King Mohamed VI.Continue reading....
Allegations of the excessive use of surveillance technology against dissident voices in Morocco add up to an unprecedented chapter. Amnesty International has released a detailed report this Thursday describing the existence of a complex state control apparatus designed to track, intimidate and imprison independent activists, lawyers and journalists both within and outside its borders.
Amnesty International accused Morocco on Thursday of establishing a "surveillance ecosystem" to "silence" journalists and human rights defenders through spyware, but also filming them without their knowledge, even in their own homes. For its report, the London-based organization claims to have relied on the testimony of a former staff member of the Directorate-General for Territorial Surveillance (DGST), on leaked documents and journalistic inve…
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- 37% of the sources lean Left, 36% of the sources are Center
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