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oversight findingVerified

Pegasus Project reporting names UAE among NSO Group clients

In July 2021 the Pegasus Project reported that the UAE was among NSO Group clients whose software appeared in a leaked list of potential targets, including journalists and activists. In the causal graph this event weakens the driver Personal-Data Protection.

Sources: [1][2]

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In July 2021 the Pegasus Project reported that the UAE was among NSO Group clients whose software appeared in a leaked list of potential targets, including journalists and activists.

Context

Amnesty, Forbidden Stories and newsrooms reported. The UAE denied abuse. Mohamed bin Zayed was security principal. A leak is not a trial. Citizen Lab-style technical reports are neighbouring if separately dated.

Mansoor 2018 is a completed sentence.

The president of the United Arab Emirates is elected by the Federal Supreme Council of the seven emirates and is, in this case, also Ruler of Abu Dhabi and supreme commander of the armed forces. He does not write UNFCCC consensus texts by himself, IAEA operating licences, Israeli Knesset statutes, or UN panel reports.

Why it matters

Denial is part of the cluster. Infection of every listed number is not established here.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.5 · verified

    He was UAE security principal. Newsrooms reported NSO client status. NSO built the tool. A leak is not a conviction.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Guardian — Pegasus Project leak on NSO Group clientsThe Guardian · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.WAM — UAE participation in the Yemen coalition, March 2015Emirates News Agency · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Emirates News Agency carries the official instrument or communique. The Guardian records the same dated act independently.

Established: July 2021 Pegasus Project reporting naming the UAE among NSO clients, independently reported, with UAE denial.

Not established: that every number on a leaked list was infected, or a completed criminal judgment against the president.

Newsrooms reported NSO client status. NSO built the tool. A leak is not a conviction.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Pegasus Project reporting names UAE among NSO Group clients, not a later speech about Pegasus Project reporting names UAE among NSO Group clients.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. If a later repeal, stay, or successor decree exists, it needs its own date and its own row. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He was UAE security principal. Newsrooms reported NSO client status. NSO built the tool. A leak is not a conviction. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorMohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
  2. contributed toFactPegasus Project reporting names UAE among NSO Group clients
  3. weakensDrivers (2)Personal-Data Protection

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Pegasus Project reporting names UAE among NSO Group clients. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ae-internet-shutdown-tools

https://factrail.ai/facts/ae-internet-shutdown-tools

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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