Meta asks US court to hold NSO in contempt

Meta Platforms said on Monday, June 8, 2026, that it filed a federal court motion seeking to hold Israeli spyware firm NSO Group in contempt for allegedly violating a permanent injunction related to WhatsApp.

The company said WhatsApp disrupted new spear-phishing attempts it attributed to NSO, despite an order barring the firm from ever targeting WhatsApp and its users.

NSO is an entity the US government previously blacklisted for activities it said were contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests.

Meta did not provide technical details in the filing excerpted in the source, but said the activity resembled earlier “1-click phishing campaigns.”

Alleged “1-click” phishing attempts

Meta said the alleged spear-phishing attempts sought to trick users into clicking malicious links that would direct them to external websites. The company said a “1-click” attack can compromise a device or account after a single click, without requiring the victim to enter credentials.

In response, Meta said WhatsApp removed test accounts and groups it said were created by NSO on the platform.

Background on the injunction and appeal

Last year, a US court issued a permanent injunction ordering NSO to stop targeting Meta’s WhatsApp. The spyware company has argued the injunction could threaten its business.

The same ruling reduced punitive damages NSO owed Meta to $4 million from an initial $167 million, according to the source. Meta described the injunction itself as a significant operational constraint on NSO.

Meta also said that last month it was joined by 12 civil rights organizations, along with a coalition of security researchers, privacy advocates and digital rights experts, who filed amicus briefs opposing NSO’s appeal of the permanent injunction.

The court’s response to Meta’s contempt request and the next steps in NSO’s appeal will determine whether additional restrictions or penalties are imposed.