*WASHINGTON – Two former Twitter employees and a third man were charged inSan Francisco Federal Court Wednesday with spying on Twitter users criticalof the Saudi royal family, the US Justice Department announced.*
The two Saudis and one US citizen allegedly worked together to unmask theownership details behind dissident Twitter accounts on behalf of thegovernment in Riyadh and the royal family, the department said.
According to a court filing, they were guided by an unnamed Saudi officialwho worked for someone prosecutors designated “Royal Family Member-1,”which The Washington Post reported was Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed binSalman.
Those charged were former Twitter employees Ali Alzabarah and AhmadAbouammo, along with Ahmed Almutairi, a marketing official with ties to theroyal family.
“The criminal complaint unsealed today alleges that Saudi agents minedTwitter’s internal systems for personal information about known Saudicritics and thousands of other Twitter users,” said US Attorney DavidAnderson.
“US law protects US companies from such an unlawful foreign intrusion. Wewill not allow US companies or US technology to become tools of foreignrepression in violation of US law,” he said in a statement.
The lawsuit comes as US-Saudi relations continue to suffer strains over thebrutal, Riyadh-sanctioned murder last year of Saudi journalist JamalKhashoggi, who wrote for, among others, The Washington Post.
A critic of Crown Prince Mohammed, Khashoggi was killed and dismemberedinside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
According to the Post, US intelligence has concluded that the princehimself was closely linked to the murder.
*Targeting regime critics*
Abouammo, 41, an American, and Saudi national Alzabarah, 35, were recruitedin 2014-2015 to use their positions in Twitter to gain access to privateinformation related to the accounts of critics of Riyadh, the indictmentsays.
Saudi citizen Almutairi, 30, was a critical go-between who arrangedcontacts between the two others and the unnamed Saudi official.
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The indictment said Almutairi controlled a social media marketing companythat did work for a royal charity and members of the royal family,“including Royal Family Member-1.”
Abouammo was paid over $300,000 and received a Hublot watch worth more than$20,000 for his work.
Alzabarah’s payment was not detailed, but the filing said he quickly fledthe US with his family in December 2015 after Twitter management confrontedhim about his unauthorized accessing of user information for some 6,000Twitter accounts, including accounts of known prominent dissidents androyal family critics.
All three are charged with acting as illegal agents of a foreigngovernment, a charge that can indicate both illegal lobbying and espionage.
Abouammo was also charged with destroying, altering, or falsifying recordsrelated to a federal investigation.
“These individuals are charged with targeting and obtaining private datafrom dissidents and known critics, under the direction and control of thegovernment of Saudi Arabia,” said FBI Special Agent John Bennett.
“The FBI will not stand by and allow foreign governments to illegallyexploit private user information from US companies.”
The Justice Department said Abouammo was arrested on Tuesday in Seattle,Washington, but that both Alzabarah and Almutairi remain at large and arebelieved to be in Saudi Arabia.
Federal warrants have been issued for the arrest of both. -APP/AFP
