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 other critical voices.
“Amnesty International’s findings provide a chilling picture of the scale and methods of surveillance targeting journalists in Morocco, and the devastating consequences for press freedom,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Moroccan authorities must immediately end the unlawful surveillance of journalists. No journalist should ever face the threat of having their private lives, communications, and movements monitored and weaponized by authorities.”
The report identifies Morocco’s General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST), as responsible for deploying Pegasus spyware, as well as the use of digital and physical surveillance against journalists and human rights defenders.
The findings rely on a former DGST employee, forensic analysis, leaked surveillance data, and interviews with people targeted by surveillance, with an analysis of 103 Moroccan phone numbers, among which 22 journalists and media workers were identified as potential targets.
The investigation detailed
extensive surveillance tactics, including spyware infection, phone interceptions, location tracking, and covert audio and video recording. Amnesty International also reported that information likely obtained through this surveillance was leaked to pro-government media to fuel smear campaigns against journalists and human rights defenders.
Omar Radi
and
Hicham Mansouri
are among the journalists named in the investigation. Radi, a
past target of Pegasus
, reportedly had his apartment bugged with hidden microphones, while Mansouri told Amnesty Interna
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