Saudi Arabia bribed Twitter employees to spy on her behalf
Social media platforms have a bunch of information available to us. Others we share voluntarily in public and others are private which we either share with specific individuals or are required only for our relationship with the platform, such as emails, phones etc. This data can only be accessed by social media employees and this it’s exactly what happened in this particular case on Twitter.
According to the courts of San Francisco, the government of Saudi Arabia recruited employees of Twitter to spy on thousands of accounts that were critical of the government. Saudi Arabia ended up with thousands of names, email addresses, telephones, birth dates and IP addresses in its hands, while employees were rewarded for their services with expensive watches and tens of thousands of dollars in secret accounts. Twitter accounts included a newsletter personality and a popular account with over 1 million followers who were not named.
These officials are now being indicted by the US as agents of Saudi Arabia without having disclosed their status to the US government. Saudi Arabia is keeping silent on the matter. Twitter said it is working with the authorities and restricting access to sensitive information ” to the smallest possible number of trained and audited officials “.
We understand the incredible risks that many take to using Twitter to share their views with the world and hold those in power accountable. We have tools that protect their privacy and their ability to continue their critical work.
But cyber security professor Mike Chapple thinks Twitter does not restrict access to the smallest number of people.
If Twitter had followed this principle, this misuse of information would not have been possible. Social media companies need to understand that this information is sensitive and should limit access to the smallest possible number of employees. If they fail to do so, the privacy, even the personal safety, of social media users is at stake.
