A new investigation into Morocco’s surveillance system has brought fresh allegations that journalists, activists and political critics were monitored through a network involving spyware, physical surveillance and intelligence operations.
Amnesty International says a former Moroccan security employee has provided rare first hand information about how surveillance operations allegedly targeted critics of the government.
The organisation says it corroborated important elements of the whistleblower’s account through technical evidence, interviews and independent sources.
Moroccan authorities have rejected previous allegations that state agencies used Pegasus spyware against journalists and activists.
The new allegations nevertheless provide one of the most detailed accounts yet of how such a surveillance system allegedly operated.
Journalists describe years of monitoring
One of the journalists featured in the investigation is Omar Radi, a Moroccan journalist and human rights defender.
Radi previously discovered that his phone had been targeted with Pegasus spyware.
He described physical surveillance occurring alongside digital monitoring.
According to his account, people associated with the security apparatus allegedly monitored his movements, relationships and activities.
Radi believes his work investigating land dispossession contributed to the attention directed toward him.
His case is not presented as an isolated incident.
Amnesty’s investigation identifies several other journalists, lawyers and activists who were allegedly targeted.
What Pegasus makes possible
Pegasus is a sophisticated surveillance system capable of compromising mobile devices.
Once installed, spyware of this type can potentially provide access to communications, photographs, location information and other sensitive material stored on a device.
The technology has become a global symbol of the growing power of governments to monitor individuals without their knowledge.
The central controversy is not whether states should investigate genuine security threats.
Governments have legitimate security responsibilities.
The concern arises when surveillance tools designed for national security are allegedly used against journalists, lawyers, activists or political critics whose activities are protected by fundamental rights.
The whistleblower account
Amnesty says the former security employee, identified under the pseudonym Safir, described the alleged internal surveillance system from inside Morocco’s security apparatus.
According to the investigation, the whistleblower provided information about surveillance operations involving journalists and activists.
Amnesty says it independently corroborated important elements of the testimony.
The investigation was conducted with a network of media organisations coordinated through Forbidden Stories.
That collaboration is significant because surveillance allegations can be extremely difficult for individual journalists to investigate.
A single journalist may know that something unusual is happening but lack the technical ability to establish whether a device has been compromised or whether physical surveillance is occurring.
Collaborative investigations allow technical specialists, journalists and rights organisations to compare evidence.
Morocco rejects the accusations
Moroccan authorities have previously rejected allegations that government agencies used Pegasus to target journalists, activists and critics.
The government has disputed allegations concerning surveillance and has rejected claims that its security services systematically targeted independent journalists.
That denial is important to include because the new allegations remain contested.
However, the dispute itself demonstrates the difficulty of investigating surveillance systems.
The alleged targets often cannot see who is monitoring them.
Governments possess information classified as national security material.
Security agencies rarely reveal operational methods.
And spyware infections can be technically sophisticated enough to remain invisible to ordinary users.
The chilling effect on journalism
The implications extend beyond the people directly targeted.
If journalists believe their phones, offices or homes may be monitored, they may become less willing to communicate with confidential sources.
A journalist investigating corruption may avoid contacting a source.
A human rights lawyer may become cautious about discussing a case.
An activist may stop organising.
A source may decide that speaking to the media is too dangerous.
Surveillance therefore does not need to result in arrest to suppress dissent.
The possibility of surveillance can be enough.
That is what makes the allegations particularly important for independent journalism.
Digital repression is changing
Traditional authoritarian repression often relied on visible methods.
Arrests.
Censorship.
Police intimidation.
Court cases.
Modern surveillance can operate much more quietly.
A journalist can continue publishing while simultaneously being monitored.
A government does not necessarily need to shut down a newspaper if it can identify the newspaper’s sources.
It does not necessarily need to arrest an activist if it can map the activist’s network.
This makes digital surveillance an increasingly important part of political control around the world.
Morocco’s alleged system therefore has implications far beyond Morocco.
The global spyware industry
The controversy also raises questions about the companies selling surveillance technologies to governments.
Private technology firms can provide governments with capabilities that previously existed only within major intelligence agencies.
The international spyware market has grown rapidly, while regulation has struggled to keep pace.
Governments often argue that these tools are necessary to combat terrorism and organised crime.
Rights organisations counter that strong safeguards are required to prevent abuse.
The Morocco allegations demonstrate why that debate matters.
Once powerful surveillance technology reaches a security service, controlling its use can become extremely difficult.
A test for accountability
The new allegations put pressure on Morocco to provide greater transparency about how surveillance powers are used.
They also raise questions for technology companies and governments that sell or license sophisticated spyware.
Journalists and activists cannot independently defend themselves against a surveillance system they cannot see.
That makes external accountability essential.
The issue is ultimately larger than Pegasus.
It concerns whether governments should be allowed to deploy increasingly powerful technologies against citizens without meaningful judicial oversight.
If surveillance becomes invisible, accountability cannot become invisible with it.
For Morocco’s journalists and activists, the allegations are therefore not simply a dispute over technology.
They are a question about whether independent reporting and political criticism can exist freely when the state possesses the ability to monitor the people behind them.
– Tamrah News Middle East