https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/20/18003644/saudi-arabia-twitter-jamal-khashoggi-twitter-employee-spy
By Andrew Liptak
The Verge
Oct 20, 2018
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’s 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." 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.
Reached for comment, a Twitter spokesperson said that the company has
"nothing to add at this time." The Times says that among the accounts that
were notified belonged to security researchers, academics, and
journalists, including individuals who worked for the Tor project. Prior
to his death, Khashoggi was involved in launching a project designed to
combat online abuse.
[...]
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