As Facebook-owned WhatsApp sued Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group this week that exploited its video calling system to snoop on 1,400 selected users globally, details emerged on Thursday that there were "insignificant number" of Indian human rights activists and journalists among those who were targeted.
Multiple media reports said those targeted in India included human rights activists who were arrested over their alleged involvement in the Bhima-Koregaon Dalit riots near Pune in January last year, adding that some Indian journalists were also victim of the WhatsApp spygate.
On Thursday, several lawyers and activists claimed they had been targeted by the Israeli spyware company NSO’s spyware Pegasus.
Among them were lawyers and activists involved in the Bhima Koreagon violence. The list included Nihalsingh Rathore, Bela Bhatia, Degree Prasad Chauhan, Shubharanshu Choudhary, Anant Teltumbde, Ashish Gupta and Sidhant Sibal.
Among those whose names have cropped are Advocate Nihalsingh Rathore, who runs the Human Rights Law Network in Nagpur. He told several media outlets he was contacted by WhatsApp for a possible breach in May.
Rathore also told media outlets he was contacted by Citizens Lab on October 7, which had called him informing him about the possible hack.
He also told Scroll, he believed that the Bhima Koregaon Case is based on the letter which were ‘planted through this route or some other route by government agencies itself’.
Others who were targeted were activists Bela Bhatia and Degree Prasad Chauhan. Both said they were also contacted Citizen Lab. Degree Prasad Chauhan said he believed he was targeted because of his work in raising atrocities against Dalits.
Another person who said he was on the list is former BBC journalist Shubharanshu Choudhary who works in Chhattisgarh. Academic Anand Teltumbde, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case said he received a call from Citizen Lab.
Another one who got a call was Ashish Gupta, who received a call a from an Canada-based NGO. Lastly, WION journalist Sidhant Sibal said he was also amongst those targeted.
WhatsApp sued an Israeli firm in a San Francisco for targeting over 1400 users with Pegasus.
The company told Indian Express: “Indian journalists and human rights activists have been the target of surveillance and while I cannot reveal their identities and the exact number, I can say that it is not an insignificant number.”
The IT Ministry headed by Ravi Shankar Prasad has asked WhatsApp to respond by 4th November.
Who are the NSO group?
The NSO Group is an Israeli tech company whose services are used by governments and forces of law and order to track terror rings, sex trafficking and other such heinous crimes.
Israeli tech company NSO disputed the allegations and said it will fight it. They said their technology wasn’t for use against human rights activists and journalists.
