The automaker example is awful in this case. This is a drunk guy going into a car rental and asking to take it for a spin. NSO being the rental company says do you have cash? Drunk guy gives a pile of cash and rental company gives them a car to drive. Drunk driver kills someone. Is the car rental company liable? We just rent cars they say as a defense, but know they are selling to someone who is dangerous and isn't known for abiding by international (or perhaps western) norms of behavior.
You cannot have it both ways, if you're going to sell the software to awful regimes who target people like journalists, you're responsible for the outcomes. The fact they found it was used on Khashoggi family phones would seemingly implicate them in the murder of a journalist. Did they kill him? Probably not. But if their software is being used by governments who did kill him, then they contributed.
I hope they get criminally held responsible for assisting in the murder of Khashoggi if they are found guilty and we need laws and norms to catch up to a place where this kind of business is more restricted/limited.
You cannot have it both ways, if you're going to sell the software to awful regimes who target people like journalists, you're responsible for the outcomes. The fact they found it was used on Khashoggi family phones would seemingly implicate them in the murder of a journalist. Did they kill him? Probably not. But if their software is being used by governments who did kill him, then they contributed.
I hope they get criminally held responsible for assisting in the murder of Khashoggi if they are found guilty and we need laws and norms to catch up to a place where this kind of business is more restricted/limited.