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3mo ago

Germany’s Top Court Rules Foreign States Can’t Gag Press in Pegasus Case

The ruling clarifies that foreign governments lack standing under German personal-rights law to seek press injunctions.

Das Eingangstor des Bundesgerichtshofs (BGH) in Karlsruhe.
Ausländische Staaten können von deutschen Medien nicht verlangen, bestimmte Artikel nicht zu schreiben. Eine Klage Marokkos gegen deutsche Zeitungen scheiterte vor dem Bundesgerichtshof.

Overview

  • The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe on February 24, 2026 rejected Morocco’s bid to stop Süddeutsche Zeitung and Zeit Online from publishing on alleged Pegasus surveillance.
  • The court held that a foreign state cannot invoke the personality rights needed to obtain a publication ban against German media (cases VI ZR 415/23 and VI ZR 416/23).
  • The judgment concerns legal standing for prior restraint and does not assess the accuracy of the Pegasus-related allegations.
  • Morocco denies buying or using Pegasus and had previously lost similar actions at the Higher Regional Court in Hamburg.
  • The contested reports grew out of a 2021 investigation by 17 media outlets that detailed widespread Pegasus-enabled surveillance of officials, journalists and human-rights activists.