"US Supreme Court hears Cisco bid to halt Falun Gong suit", 29 April 2026

The US Supreme Court heard a bid by Cisco on Tuesday to toss out a lawsuit that alleges the US tech giant should be held liable for persecution in China of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

The case stems from a 2011 suit filed by a dozen Chinese nationals and a US citizen who claim Cisco designed an internet surveillance and censorship network called "Golden Shield" that was used by the Chinese government to track down Falun Gong devotees...

"Cisco vigorously disputes those allegations," Kannon Shanmugam, a lawyer for the company told the justices during the Supreme Court session.

A federal district court judge dismissed the suit in 2014 but it was revived by an appeals court in 2023, prompting Cisco to take it to the top US court...

The conservative-dominated Supreme Court has limited the scope of ATS claims in several recent cases involving US corporations and it appeared likely following Tuesday's oral arguments to also side with Cisco.