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Journalist phone hack case overview:
- Who: Britain’s High Court ruled British journalist Rania Dridi can file a lawsuit against the United Arab Emirates.
- Why: Dridi claims the UAE government used the Pegasus spyware program to hack into her phone, as part of a broader hack against her employer Al Araby Television Network, along with Al Jazeera.
- Where: The case was in front of the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales.
The High Court ruled earlier this month that the United Arab Emirates can be sued in a journalist phone hack case.
The court found British journalist Rania Dridi to have an “arguable case” against the government of the UAE over her claims that it used spyware to hack into her mobile phone.
Dridi claims the UAE government used a spyware program called Pegasus to hack into her phone a total of six times between 2019 and 2020 and subsequently misuse her private information, harass her and tamper with her goods, reports Law360.
Dridi argues the government broke into her phone as part of a broader hack against Al Araby Television Network — for which she covers current affairs in the Middle East — in addition to Al Jazeera.
“I have spoken out publicly and raised my voice as a woman and defied, on my own, a state that suppresses fundamental rights and freedoms, and one that invaded my privacy and violated my personal freedoms, causing me to feel fear, panic and threatened,” Dridi said, in a statement.
Journalist phone hack case against UAE is first of its kind in U.K.
While the complaint would be the first of its kind in the U.K., it is reportedly not the first time the UAE has faced claims involving its alleged use of the Pegasus spyware program.
Al Jazeera News Anchor Ghada Oueiss previously filed a lawsuit in the United States against the UAE government in 2020 over claims its crown prince, Mohamed bin Zayed, and others broke into her phone and stole photographs, reports Law360.
Oueiss reportedly argued the photographs were stolen as part of a smear campaign conducted against Saudi government critics.
A trio of former U.S. government intelligence officials and military officers also previously agreed to pay a $1.7 million fine in 2021 over their alleged role in providing the UAE with phone hacking services between 2016 and 2019, reports Law360.
In a past case involving the High Court, a journalist filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook in February 2021 over claims the company allowed a third party to covertly scrape private data from user accounts and networks without their permission.
Do you agree with the High Court’s decision? Let us know in the comments.
The journalist phone hack case is Dridi v. the United Arab Emirates, Case No.KB-2023-003944, in the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales.
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