The government has used different tactics to
control speech and keep reformers and others
from organizing, including employing troll
armies to harass and intimidate users online. It
has even arrested and imprisoned Twitter users.
The crown prince’s former top adviser, Saud
al-Qahtani, who also served as director of the
cyber security federation, started the “Black List”
hashtag to target critics of the government. He
ominously tweeted in 2017 that the government
had ways of unmasking anonymous Twitter users.
“Does a pseudonym protect you from #theblack
list? No,” al-Qahtani wrote, according to a report
by Coogle released this week. “1) States have a
method to learn the owner of the pseudonym 2)
the IP address can be learned using a number of
methods 3) a secret I will not say.”
“If you combine that with what we know about
at least these two individuals and what went
on in 2014 and into 2015, it’s pretty chilling,”
Coogle said.
Al-Qahtani has been sanctioned for his
suspected role in orchestrating the brutal
killing of Khashoggi. His Twitter account was
suspended in September for violating its
platform manipulation policy.
Twitter acknowledged that it cooperated in the
criminal investigation and said in a statement
that it restricts access to sensitive account
information “to a limited group of trained and
vetted employees.”
“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,” the statement said. “We
have tools in place to protect their privacy and
their ability to do their vital work.”