Morocco’s DGST accused of mass surveillance targeting journalists and activists

Morocco’s domestic intelligence agency has reportedly launched a broad surveillance operation against journalists and human rights activists, employing Pegasus spyware and hidden cameras, Amnesty International says.

Issued on: 02/10/2026 – 17:18

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In its report released Thursday, Amnesty said the surveillance system used by Morocco’s domestic intelligence agency – the Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST) – incorporated Israel‑made Pegasus spyware.

The investigation also revealed that phones were deliberately infected with malware and that covert cameras were planted in private homes, alongside systematic interception of telephone calls.

The findings are based on testimony from a former DGST operative, digital forensic analysis, and internal documents from surveillance firms such as NSO Group, Hacking Team and Verint.

Moroccan authorities have repeatedly denied using Pegasus and maintain that they respect the privacy of private communications.

A web of surveillance

The former DGST operative, identified by Amnesty under the pseudonym Safir, described an intelligence operation that spanned sophisticated remote hacking to tactics requiring physical access to targets.

According to his testimony, journalists and activists were secretly filmed and recorded while in detention, in offices, cars, cafés, and even in their bedrooms.

Telephone calls were routinely intercepted and location data used to track the targets and their associates, Amnesty said.

Safir also detailed arrangements with second‑hand phone shops, through which DGST agents supplied ostensibly new devices already infected with spyware, granting authorities access to the users’ communications.

Amnesty said the DGST also relied on cooperation from at least one Moroccan telecommunications provider.

The investigation found that some Pegasus attacks were executed via “network injection”, which redirected targeted devices to spyware infrastructure while they were connected to the Maroc Telecom network.

The report says Morocco also procured other surveillance systems over more than a decade.

According to internal records cited by Amnesty, the DGST and Morocco’s High Council for National Defence had contracts dating back to at least 2009 with the Italian firm Hacking Team, and Morocco also acquired Verint’s Reliant surveillance platform in 2014.

Pegasus targets

Amnesty’s analysis provided further evidence that the DGST began using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware in September 2017.

Pegasus can grant an operator extensive access to the contents of an infected smartphone, including messages, photos, location data, and the phone’s microphone and camera.

Internal NSO documents disclosed during a US court case involving WhatsApp and its parent company Meta identified the Moroccan client under the codename “Morgen”, Amnesty said.

Amnesty identified 103 Moroccan phone numbers entered into the Pegasus system between September and December 2017, dozens of which belonged to human rights activists, journalists, lawyers and academics. The evidence indicated that civil‑society figures were among the DGST’s priority targets.

The NGO said Morocco used Pegasus between 2017 and 2021 and possibly continued doing so beyond that period.

It called for an independent investigation into the DGST and urged governments to halt exports of intrusive surveillance technology to Morocco until stronger safeguards are in place.

(with newswires)

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