The story: A joint investigation by 17 media outlets into Israeli cybersurveillance firm NSO Group suggests that Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have used its spyware to target journalists and activists. NSO markets its Pegasus software as a law enforcement tool that penetrates the smartphones of criminals. However, authoritarian governments often use it to surveil and silence political dissent.

The coverage: The origin of the leaked list of hacked phone numbers remains unclear...