“Exposed: civil society condemns use of Pegasus in El Salvador to spy on journalists and activists”, January 12, 2022.

...[T]he undersigned organizations, condemn the use of NSO Group’s Pegasus technology in El Salvador for the surveillance of journalists and civil society, as initially flagged by El Faro and Gato Encerrado, and confirmed through a joint investigation … Although, to date, it has not been established who the perpetrator of this surveillance is, NSO Group has repeatedly claimed it only sells Pegasus technology to governments.

In September 2021, a group of independent journalists got in touch with Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline after testing their devices using Amnesty International’s Mobile Verification Toolkit to detect Pegasus spyware…All the infections were confirmed through a forensic analysis by The Citizen Lab, and later independently confirmed by Amnesty International.

…Twenty three of those devices belong to professionals affiliated with the regional media group El Faro, and four to the national media group, Gato Encerrado. El Faro and Gato Encerrado are independent investigative outlets that have often published reporting that is critical of the Salvadoran government’s actions…

The devices were infected between July 2020 and November 2021, some over 40 times, reflecting one of the most persistent and intensive known uses of Pegasus to surveil journalists in the world…

The Salvadoran government has repeatedly harassed El Faro and Gato Encerrado journalists… President Bukele has also made multiple allegations discrediting both media outlets on Twitter.

The world is witnessing an unprecedented explosion of the use of government-mandated surveillance, supported by private companies like NSO Group. The lack of accountability for such egregious conduct by public authorities and private companies allows the surveillance culture to flourish, and destroy human rights…