Tech
Saudi paid Twitter employee to spy on accounts of dissidents, reports say
On Saturday, The New York Times published a report detailing Saudi Arabia’s efforts to combat dissent on platforms like Twitter, such as slain US journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was subjected to intense and personal attacks online before his death.
As part of those efforts, the kingdom reportedly worked to groom a Twitter employee to spy on user accounts.
According to the Times, western intelligence officials contacted the social media company, saying that the Saudi government was “grooming” one of its employees, Ali Alzabarah, “to spy on the accounts of dissidents and others.”
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Alzabarah worked at Twitter beginning in 2013 as an engineer with access to user accounts, and was convinced by Saudi intelligence officials to look into several accounts.
Once alerted, Twitter reportedly placed Alzabarah on administrative leave while an investigation took place, and while “they could not find evidence that he had handed over Twitter data to the Saudi government,” he was fired at the end of 2015. The company then notified a “few dozen accounts” that they might have been targeted.
Following his dismissal, Alzabarah returned to Saudi Arabia.
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