Former Twitter Employee Found Guilty Of Spying For Saudi Arabia

Illustration of espionage doing reconnaissance. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - Former Twitter employee Ahmad Abouammo was found guilty of spying for the Saudi Arabian government. This is reported by Bloomberg.

A jury handed down its verdict in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, August 9, where Abouammo was also convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and falsification of records.

Abouammo previously worked at Twitter as a media partnerships manager, helping prominent figures in the Middle East and North Africa promote their accounts. However, he took advantage of his position to access the email addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates of users critical of the Saudi government.

Abouammo then sent the information to Saudi Arabian officials between November 2014 and May 2015 and received a gift in return.

In 2019, the Justice Department charged Abouammo and another former Twitter employee, Ali Alzabarah, with espionage. The agency later expanded the allegations in 2020 to include a third person, Ahmed Almutairi, who allegedly coordinated the scheme.

Both Almutairi and Alzabarah are still wanted by the US government. Last year, human rights activist Ali Al-Ahmed sued Twitter, claiming that the platform could have done more to protect its information.

According to Bloomberg, prosecutors accused Abouammo of working with aide to Mohammed bin Salman, who is now Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, to pressure dissidents.

Abouammo reportedly argued that he was just doing his job, and instead blamed Twitter for not securing user data. Abouammo faces 10 to 20 years in prison when sentenced. Twitter declined to comment on the matter.