Twitter sued over Saudi spying that allegedly landed popular user in prison
Enlarge (credit: Thomas Trutschel / Contributor | Photothek)
[Update: A MENA Rights Group spokesperson told Ars that the group has been assisting Abdulrahman since 2018, detailing developments in his case here, and filed a complaint with the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) in 2021. On April 5, 2022, the UN's WGAD issued an opinion, finding that Abdulrahman is being detained arbitrarily. This was partly because his arrest and detention lack a legal basis, because of a "lack of legal clarity of the Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Cybercrime Laws," MENA Rights Group reported, and partly because he was deprived of his right to freedom of expression on discriminatory grounds, because of his political opinion." At that time, the UN called on Saudi authorities to "take urgent action to ensure his immediate unconditional release." Abdulrahman's current status remains unknown to family.
Michael Page, the deputy director of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Middle East and North Africa division, told Ars that HRW cannot comment on Areej's complaint. He shared a letter sent to Twitter in November 2022, urging Twitter to "undertake a due diligence process and develop a risk mitigation strategy regarding the company's links to a Saudi government-controlled entity that has itself been involved in abuses" and asking the company to publicly call for the immediate release of another Twitter user, Salma al-Shehab, who was imprisoned for 34 years for "peaceful comments." Twitter never responded to the letter, which reminded the company of its human rights responsibilities. Those include taking "steps to address adverse human rights impacts that stem from their practices or operations and to provide for remediation of adverse human rights impacts directly linked to their operations, products or services."]
While based in the United States from 2008 to 2014, human rights activist Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan tweeted critically about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to more than 160,000 followers. After he returned to Saudi Arabia in 2015, his anonymous account allegedly became unmasked by former Twitter employees who were charged with conspiring with the Saudi regime to silence dissidents. Now, his sister, Areej Al-Sadhan, is suing Twitter for allegedly violating its terms of service and giving her brother's "identifying information to the government of Saudi Arabia" when his Twitter speech should have been protected.