Amnesty International Exposes Morocco's Extensive Surveillance Network Targeting Journalists and Activists
Amnesty International has released a new report, 'We Start with the Verdict: Inside Morocco’s Surveillance Machine,' detailing how Moroccan authorities employ a vast surveillance apparatus to track, monitor, and silence journalists, activists, and critical voices. The report, based on a whistleblower's testimony, digital forensics, interviews with surveillance targets, and leaked data, reveals a system combining digital and analogue tools. The Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST) is identified as the entity responsible for deploying Pegasus spyware, among other tools. The whistleblower, a former DGST employee known as Safir, provided first-hand accounts of the agency's operations, including physical infection of devices, 1-click and zero-click attacks, and network injection attacks via Maroc Telecom. Targets were secretly recorded in various locations, phone calls intercepted, and location data tracked. The report also alleges that phone shops were co-opted to sell pre-infected mobile...
