FranceOwnership & classification
Founded: 2017
Ownership
Forbidden Stories is a Paris-based non-profit network founded in 2017 by French investigative journalist Laurent Richard, who serves as executive director. It is operated by the non-profit Freedom Voices Network and is not owned by any company, family or state. It coordinates investigations across some 150 reporters and 60+ news organisations (including Le Monde, The Guardian and The Washington Post) to continue the work of murdered or threatened journalists.
Funding
Funded by philanthropic grants and foundations rather than advertising or owners; reported backers include the Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, Luminate, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Adessium Foundation, the Mozilla Foundation and others. It has raised several million dollars since its creation.
Affiliation & stance
It has no party, state or commercial-owner control; as an independent journalist-led non-profit it is INDEPENDENT. Its work is investigative and press-freedom oriented, broadly centre-left in outlook but not tied to any political party.
Editorial lean
- Our estimate
- Lean Progressive
- Measured from coverage
- Progressivebased on 5
80/100
Factual
69/100
Objective
5
Articles
5
reports
Factual: How accurately its articles report the facts, judged against primary sources and the cross-outlet consensus. Only articles that cite their sources are counted.
Objective: How neutral the writing is — whether reporting keeps the writer’s own preferences and opinions out of the article.
Recent coverage
Moroccan intelligence is believed to have spied on Spanish agents who were training them
In 2021 and 2022, Moroccan intelligence allegedly used the Pegasus spyware to monitor Spanish officials including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and several ministers. The surveillance, reportedly ordered from the Royal Palace in Rabat by Royal Adviser Fouad El Himma, coincided with actions aimed at pressuring Spain regarding the Western Sahara dispute. A secret Spanish intelligence report linked these activities to the sudden opening of the Ceuta border in May 2021, which was seen as a tactic to manipulate migration flows. In response, Spain fired its foreign minister, Arancha González Laya, in 2022. Relations between Spain and Morocco improved when Sánchez aligned with King Mohamed VI on Western Sahara issues. However, tensions resurfaced in June 2022 when Moroccan security forces caused the 'Melilla massacre,' resulting in 37 deaths and numerous disappearances. This event prompted Spain to push for NATO to recognize migration as a hybrid threat. Additionally, Moroccan intelligence has been accused of leaking photos of Spanish officials without consent and recruiting individuals connected to Spain's police force.
Codename “Morgan”: A look back at Morocco’s acquisition of Pegasus, involving Israel and the United Arab Emirates
The article investigates Morocco's alleged involvement with the Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli company NSO Group, through intermediaries linked to the United Arab Emirates. Former Moroccan intelligence officer Safir claims that Morocco used Pegasus extensively, facilitated by Wassim F., a cybersecurity expert associated with FSSYS Morocco, the UAE-based Al Fahad group. The article highlights the covert nature of these operations, suggesting that Morocco accessed Pegasus via the UAE, despite formal diplomatic normalization with Israel occurring later in 2020 under the Abraham Accords. The piece draws on unverified testimonies and circumstantial evidence, emphasizing the secrecy surrounding the collaboration between Moroccan intelligence, Israeli technology, and Emirati intermediaries.
