Ex-Obama official exits Israeli spyware firm amid press freedom row

Juliette Kayyem has left NSO, which denies its technology has been used to target activists

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
@skirchy
Tue 4 Feb 2020 14.22 GMT
Last modified on Tue 4 Feb 2020 14.24 GMT

A former Obama administration official who has faced criticism from press freedom groups for her role as a senior adviser at NSO Group has stepped down from the Israeli spyware company.

The disclosure of the public departure of Juliette Kayyem, a high-profile national security expert and Harvard professor, as a senior adviser to NSO came just one day after a controversy over her role at the spyware group prompted Harvard to cancel an online seminar she was due to host.

The “webinar”, which was focused on female journalist safety, was cancelled after officials from the Committee to Protect Journalists, among others, criticised Kayyem’s work for NSO, whose technology is claimed to have been used to target journalists and human rights campaigners. NSO has denied the allegations.

Ahmed Zidan, CPJ’s digital manager, said in a tweet that the former Homeland Security official’s role at the event was akin to inviting a “coal executive to talk about renewable energy”.

The decision by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center to cancel the event after receiving criticism of Kayyem’s involvement in the webinar is the latest sign that spyware companies are coming under increasing scrutiny.

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