A senior Saudi government official claimed that he had more than 2 million followers after he allegedly enlisted one of his employees at a social media company to spy on him. I maintain a verified Twitter account. Diagram.
The verified account of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's aide Bader Al-Asaker remained online Thursday – a U.S. jury ruled that former Twitter employee Ahmad Two days after the government convicted Abu Ammo of spying for the Saudis.
Abouammo, who is a dual U.S.-Lebanese citizen and worked as a manager for Twitter Media His Partnerships, said in 2015 that he had classified information about suspected dissidents. to Saudi Arabia. Government through an anonymous account.
Although he was not charged with the scheme, Asaker is said to have played a key role. Prosecutors said Asaker recruited his former Twitter employee and bribed him with an expensive watch and his $300,000 wire transfer in exchange for classified information.
According to the indictment, Asaker first came into contact with his Abouammo in 2014, when Abouammo was sent to his Twitter headquarters in San Francisco for his MBS aide and other Saudi government officials. It was when I helped arrange a tour of
First reported by The Guardian is an account.
Abouammo was found guilty of six counts, including acting as agent for Saudi Arabia and conspiring to commit wire fraud. He faces up to his 20-year prison sentence. Abouammo's defense team argued that he was just doing his job.
Two of his other named defendants in the lawsuit, Ali Al-Zahbara and Ahmed Al-Mutairi, are on the run.
Another former employee of his Twitter Alzabarah was also charged with providing classified information. Information from his Twitter to his Asaker about individuals who have been openly critical of the Saudi regime.
According to Bloomberg,According to Bloomberg, during the trial, U.S. prosecutors said that Asaker had been specifically contacted to develop Abuanmo as an "agent, spy" for the Saudi government. claimed to have done so. The federal government described Asaker as the crown prince's "right hand man."
Of particular note is the human rights record surrounding its role in the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, which has faced criticism.
The Washington Post reached out to Twitter for comment.
In December 2019,Twitter suspended an account linked to a "significant state-sponsored information operation" from Saudi Arabia in connection with an espionage incident.
