Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

Ninth Circuit Rejects NSO Group’s Motion to Dismiss WhatsApp Suit

By Bryce Klehm
Tuesday, November 9, 2021, 10:45 AM

On Monday, Nov. 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against NSO Group Technologies, an Israeli company. The suit, originally brought by WhatsApp and Facebook, alleges that NSO Group “sent malware through WhatsApp’s server system to mobile devices.” The Ninth Circuit denied NSO Group’s motion to dismiss the suit, rejecting its argument that the company “could claim foreign sovereign immunity under common-law immunity doctrines that apply to foreign officials.” The 3-0 decision will allow WhatsApp to continue its case against NSO Group. You can read the decision here and below.