U.S. accuses 2 former employees of Twitter of spying for Saudi Arabia
A United States (U.S.) District Court in San Francisco has charged 2 former Twitter employees of spying on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi Arabia national, and Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen, used their access at Twitter to collect sensitive and non-public information about people who criticise the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia. Separately, a third person – Ahmed Almutairi, another Saudi Arabia national, acted as an intermediary between the 2 accused Twitter employees. The criminal report was filed by U.S. Department of Justice.
The report says that the 2 Twitter employees shared confidential details which included E-Mail addresses, date of births, contact numbers and internet protocol addresses of critics of Saudi Arabia.
According to a Court filing, they were guided by an unnamed Saudi Official who worked for someone which the prosecutors have designated as a Member of the Royal Family. However, a report by leading U.S. daily, Washington Post said that the unnamed Saudi Arabia official works in the inner circle of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia – Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud.
A U.S. Attorney – David Anderson, said in a media statement, “The criminal complaint unsealed today alleges that Saudi agents mined Twitter’s internal systems for personal information about known Saudi critics and thousands of other Twitter users.”
He further said, “U.S. law protects U.S. companies from such an unlawful foreign intrusion. We will not allow U.S. companies or U.S. technology to become tools of foreign repression in violation of U.S. law.”
Ahmed Abouammo worked at Twitter as Media Partnerships Manager for the Middle East and North Africa regions, from November 2013 to May 2015. Even after leaving the job, Ahmed Abouammo allegedly continued to reach out to his former colleagues at Twitter, asking them to take down and verify certain accounts at the direction of foreign officials.
Ali Alzabarah worked at Twitter as Site Reliability Engineer from August 2013 to December 2015. He was confronted by his supervisors and placed on administrative leave before he fled to Saudi Arabia.
Ahmad Abouammo was presented in Court on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 after being arrested in Seattle, a day before, i.e., November 5, 2019. The other 2 accused, Ali Alzabarah and Ahmed Almutairi are believed to be in Saudi Arabia. A warrant has been issued against them for their arrest.
The U.S. department of Justice has said that these 3 men face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a U.S. $ 250,000 fine. Besides, Ahmed Abouammo faces an additional imprisonment of 20 years and another fine of U.S. $ 250,000, for lying to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Talking about user privacy, a statement from Twitter read, “Our company limits access to sensitive account information to a limited group of trained and vetted employees.”
“We recognize the lengths bad actors will go to try and undermine our service. Our company limits access to sensitive account information to a limited group of trained and vetted employees,” a spokesman for Twitter said. https://t.co/S9AqVK4wvD
— NYT Business (@nytimesbusiness) November 7, 2019
It further read, “We understand the incredible risks faced by many who use Twitter to share their perspectives with the world and to hold those in power accountable. We have tools in place to protect their privacy and their ability to do their vital work.”
We understand the incredible risks faced by many who use Twitter to share their perspectives with the world and to hold those in power accountable. We have tools in place to protect their privacy and their ability to do their vital work. #Twitter said
— Maria Maaloof (@bilarakib) November 7, 2019
It is to be noted that Saudi Arabia is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. The President of U.S. – Donald Trump has close ties with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia – Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud. The two had a telephonic conversation on September 14, 2019 when 2 of the State-owned Aramco’s oil facilities survived a drone attack, disrupting 50% of the global oil supply.
