Moroccan Intelligence Accused of Spying on Journalists and Human Rights 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.
43 Articles
43 Articles
Morocco: Surveillance used to silence journalists and activists
Amnesty International 1 October 2026 • Ex-security agent provides rare first-hand insight into how Morocco surveillance system works from the inside. • Targets secretly recorded in detention, offices, homes, cars and airports • Intelligence services conspired with phone shop owners to sell phones pre-infected with spyware Authorities in Morocco operate an expansive and vast surveillance apparatus that combines digital and analogue tools to tr…
An investigation by the NGO, including the testimony of a former Moroccan agent, holds the intelligence services responsible for a mass surveillance network of activists, journalists and dissidents
"Morocco expanded the use of Pegasus outside its borders against targets such as Moroccan activists, journalists, lawyers, military, diplomats and leaders...
Amnesty report details Morocco’s long-running spyware campaign against civil society
Amnesty International has published a new report alleging that Moroccan authorities have spent years using sophisticated spyware and other digital surveillance technologies to monitor human rights defenders, journalists, activists and political figures, despite repeated government denials. The report, titled “We start with the verdict”: Inside Morocco’s surveillance machine, examines Morocco’s use of surveillance technology over […]
Moroccan intelligence accused of spying on journalists and human rights activists
Morocco’s domestic intelligence service has deployed Pegasus spyware and hidden cameras in a sweeping campaign of surveillance against journalists and human rights activists, according to a report by Amnesty International.
Whistleblower reveals Morocco intelligence service targeted journalists and activists, Amnesty International says
Amnesty International on Thursday reported that a whistleblower inside Morocco’s intelligence service helped reveal a vast surveillance apparatus targeting journalists, activists and dissidents. Commenting on the increasingly hostile environment for freedom of expression in the country, Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General stated: Morocco has wholly embraced techno-authoritarian practices, acquiring a wide range of surveill…
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