1 Israel blocked from using Microsoft software for mass surveillance of Palestinians after Guardian investigation
After we exclusively revealed that Israel’s elite spy agency was using Microsoft technology to store recordings of millions of mobile phone calls made each day by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, Microsoft announced it was terminating the Israeli military’s access to services used in that surveillance system. According to sources, the sweeping and intrusive surveillance program was used to shape military operations and facilitate the preparation of deadly airstrikes. Our report, in collaboration with Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, prompted protests at Microsoft’s US headquarters and pressure from employees and investors that led to the tech company’s extraordinary decision.
2 Landmark law to curb hospital price gouging passed following Guardian report
As a result of our investigation exposing an Indiana non-profit hospital chain for inflating prices of care and treatment – saddling many patients with exorbitant bills – the governor, Mike Braun, signed legislation that requires the chain and other non-profit hospitals to lower prices or lose their tax-exempt status. The landmark legislation, which will go into effect in 2026, will be the first-ever state law in the US to effectively put price caps on non-profit hospitals.
3 Undercover surveillance of student protesters at University of Michigan halted, and charges against them dropped, after Guardian reporting
A Guardian investigation found that the University of Michigan hired a private security firm that deployed dozens of undercover investigators to trail and record pro-Palestinian student protesters on and off campus, including some who cursed at and threatened students, and one who drove a car at a student who had to jump out of the way. Our reporting sparked an outcry that led the university to cancel the firm’s contract. A separate Guardian investigation found that some of the evidence gathered was used to charge and jail students – charges that were dropped after we revealed that the university had recruited the state attorney general to take over the case because of her political, financial and personal ties to the institution.
4 Charges dropped against anti-ICE protester beaten by law enforcement
After we reported the story of Jose Manuel Mojica, a Los Angeles man arrested for assaulting law enforcement at an ICE protest, federal prosecutors reversed course and dismissed the charges. Mojica, arrested while protesting immigration raids, came forward to the Guardian, recounting how he himself had been brutally attacked by law enforcement during the incident. We also published footage of the encounter. Mojica had been charged with a federal crime that carries up to eight years in prison. “I thought I was going to die,” he told the Guardian.
5 After Trump’s top vaccine official pushes YouTube to remove a channel devoted to debunking medical misinformation, the Guardian helps get it reinstated
Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator, managed to convince YouTube to delete an entire channel dedicated to exposing medical misinformation – including politically inconvenient videos of Prasad criticizing vaccine mandates and the use of Covid boosters in young people. Following our reporting on the case, YouTube reinstated the channel.
6 Hazardous waste factory to be relocated following Guardian report detailing neighbors’ devastating deaths and illnesses
At the beginning of 2025, we revealed very high levels of lead and arsenic in homes and schools surrounding a factory processing US hazardous waste in Mexico. Our report on the Zinc Nacional plant, a joint effort with Quinto Elemento Lab, included devastating interviews with residents who lost family members to rare forms of cancer and other illnesses. Four months after the publication of our story, Zinc Nacional said it would relocate its most polluting operations away from the area.
7 US government-funded ‘social network’ attacking pro-environment advocates shut down after Guardian investigation
A Guardian investigation discovered that a US company was keeping secret tabs on hundreds of food and environmental health advocates in a private web portal partially funded by taxpayer dollars in an effort to downplay pesticide dangers, discredit opponents and ultimately undermine international policymaking. After we published our story, the company that made this “stakeholder wiki”, v-Fluence, faced widespread backlash and shut the tool down.
8 Revealed: JD Vance’s team misused power to change water levels in Ohio lake for boating holiday
Last summer, the Guardian exclusively revealed that JD Vance’s team had the army corps of engineers change the outflow of an Ohio lake to accommodate a family boating trip – at a time when the administration had cut a quarter of national park service permanent staff and was seeking to gut its budget by a third. The story was covered by more than 200 other outlets, with the senator Adam Schiff writing to Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, and leaders at the army corps of engineers and Secret Service demanding answers for this “inappropriate and embarrassing abuse of power”. The vice-president’s office told us Vance was “not involved in the decision” and that it had been “operationally necessary” to adjust the water levels.
9 Trump administration sued by 50 leading organizations for retreating on human trafficking and child exploitation after Guardian report
In September, we revealed that the US government had aggressively rolled back efforts to combat human trafficking, threatening to negate decades of progress in the drive to prevent sexual slavery, forced labor and child sexual exploitation. Less than a month later, a national coalition of more than 50 organizations that fight human trafficking filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.
10 Palestinian-American teenager released from Israeli prison after Guardian exposes his detention
After the Guardian revealed that 16-year-old US citizen Mohammed Ibrahim had been held in an Israeli prison for months following a raid on his family’s West Bank home, during which he contracted scabies and lost a significant amount of weight, 27 members of Congress wrote to Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, calling for his “swift release”. Ibrahim, a dual citizen from Florida who was charged with two counts of throwing objects at moving vehicles, was allegedly blindfolded and handcuffed by Israeli forces and taken from his home in the middle of the night. Thanks to our reporting, the teen was released at Thanksgiving and will be returning to the US.
11 Far-right Italian government banned from software misused to hack phones of journalists and activists
A Guardian report revealed that military-grade spyware was being misused to hack the phones of nearly 100 journalists and members of civil society in more than two dozen countries. Among those targeted via WhatsApp was an investigative journalist known for exposing young fascists within the far-right party of the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. After our reporting, the Israel-founded firm that owns the spyware, which does not allow for journalists or members of civil society to be targeted, severed its contract with the Italian government.
12 Major League Soccer executive put on administrative leave after Guardian investigation into claims of sexist, racist and homophobic behavior
One of MLS’s most renowned executives, sporting director of the Philadelphia Union soccer team Ernst Tanner, was revealed by a Guardian investigation to have been accused by 17 sources of offensive behavior, including saying “women don’t belong in men’s soccer” and suggesting that Black referees “lack intelligence and capability”. Tanner denied the allegations and MLS’s investigation failed to corroborate them. But as a result of our story, MLS reopened its own investigation into Tanner and the Union put him on administrative leave.
In March 2023, the Guardian revealed that a federal criminal investigation was examining Trump Media – which owns the US president’s social media platform, Truth Social – in connection with its acceptance of $8m in loans with suspected Russian ties. Those loans helped keep the company afloat long enough for Trump to take it public last year, when he netted an additional paper fortune of about $4.6bn. After publication, Trump Media sued the Guardian for defamation and $250m in damages. Last month, the judge threw out the case, pointing out that Trump Media was required to show that “the [Guardian] either knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth” – but he found no such evidence. Though Trump Media has until 2 January to refile a case against the Guardian, this was a victory not only for us, but for journalists everywhere.
Make your year-end gift to the Guardian here. We welcome anything you can spare. Thank you.
Source link
