6 ms·

They bought a huge chunk?

by grandridge 7y ago

Synaesthesia 7y ago
More like, there were Saudi spies within twitter, the company, telling the govt about dissidents.
- Shivetya 7y ago
  so my question is simple, did twitter engage the FBI or an auditing company to verify the rest of the staff who have access to sensitive data? It would seem to be a concern they would have to follow up on. You can put in all the procedures you want and declare compliance to auditors but it only serves to make paper pushers happy.
  - pferde 7y ago
    I wonder - would such audit be in their interest? Perhaps it's easier for Twitter if foreign dissidents know that Twitter is not safe to use for them, and go elsewhere. Twitter then does not have a risk of politically charged situations, and can peacefully exist by serving the usual harmless inane chatter of general population.
Natsu 7y ago
Why is this downvoted? It's true: https://qz.com/519388/this-saudi-prince-now-owns-more-of-twitter-than-jack-dorsey-does/ https://qz.com/519388/this-saudi-prince-now-owns-more-of-twi... "Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, who in 2011 invested $300 million in the social network, now owns 34.9 million shares of Twitter’s common stock, according to a new regulatory filing (pdf)." That is from 2015, but as far as I know he still owns a huge stake in the company. It would seem relevant when discussing SA's influence on Twitter, but I don't see it mentioned in the article for some reason.
- duxup 7y ago
  The downvotes are because the "infiltrated twitter" in the story has nothing to do with the investment.
  - pseingatl 7y ago
    Sure. Nothing at all. Except that Prince Walid surrendered his investment to the same people who ran moles at Twitter. Nothing to see here. It's just a coincidence. Move along.
    - duxup 7y ago
      The story likely plays out just the same regardless... I get what you're saying but the whole "it's a conspiracy here is some unrelated thing I can't connect but I'm suspicious" thing is such an easy to do, the internet is full of it... I don't think it adds anything, or is even accurate. And let's say somehow that thing with the investment doesn't happen.... I don't think that changes the story or the lessons from it.
    - j-c-hewitt 7y ago
      They didn't really need the investment to plant the spies. He just applied for a job and got it. Any foreign spy can do the same and nothing will change.
      - Natsu 7y ago
        This seems to me like focusing on the trees instead of the forest. I would think that when discussing Saudi control over a company, we might be interested in more than just some low-level henchmen, but maybe the Saudi prince who owns a third of the company. To hear some other people talk, this is "conspiracy" territory now. But c'mon, we're supposed to believe that some nobody henchmen are solely responsible for this and ignore the fact that the Saudis own a third of the company.
        duxup 7y ago
        >we're supposed to believe that some nobody henchmen are solely responsible for this and ignore the fact that the Saudis own a third of the company Without proof for your second part... yes.
- slim 7y ago
  je was arrested when MBS came to power in 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-waleed-bin-talal.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/middleeast/saudi-ar... he does not seem to be part of the "saudi intelligence community"

They bought a huge chunk?

Synaesthesia 7y ago

More like, there were Saudi spies within twitter, the company, telling the govt about dissidents.

Shivetya 7y ago
so my question is simple, did twitter engage the FBI or an auditing company to verify the rest of the staff who have access to sensitive data? It would seem to be a concern they would have to follow up on. You can put in all the procedures you want and declare compliance to auditors but it only serves to make paper pushers happy.
- pferde 7y ago
  I wonder - would such audit be in their interest? Perhaps it's easier for Twitter if foreign dissidents know that Twitter is not safe to use for them, and go elsewhere. Twitter then does not have a risk of politically charged situations, and can peacefully exist by serving the usual harmless inane chatter of general population.

Natsu 7y ago

Why is this downvoted? It's true: https://qz.com/519388/this-saudi-prince-now-owns-more-of-twitter-than-jack-dorsey-does/ https://qz.com/519388/this-saudi-prince-now-owns-more-of-twi... "Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, who in 2011 invested $300 million in the social network, now owns 34.9 million shares of Twitter’s common stock, according to a new regulatory filing (pdf)." That is from 2015, but as far as I know he still owns a huge stake in the company. It would seem relevant when discussing SA's influence on Twitter, but I don't see it mentioned in the article for some reason.

duxup 7y ago
The downvotes are because the "infiltrated twitter" in the story has nothing to do with the investment.
- pseingatl 7y ago
  Sure. Nothing at all. Except that Prince Walid surrendered his investment to the same people who ran moles at Twitter. Nothing to see here. It's just a coincidence. Move along.
  - duxup 7y ago
    The story likely plays out just the same regardless... I get what you're saying but the whole "it's a conspiracy here is some unrelated thing I can't connect but I'm suspicious" thing is such an easy to do, the internet is full of it... I don't think it adds anything, or is even accurate. And let's say somehow that thing with the investment doesn't happen.... I don't think that changes the story or the lessons from it.
  - j-c-hewitt 7y ago
    They didn't really need the investment to plant the spies. He just applied for a job and got it. Any foreign spy can do the same and nothing will change.
    - Natsu 7y ago
      This seems to me like focusing on the trees instead of the forest. I would think that when discussing Saudi control over a company, we might be interested in more than just some low-level henchmen, but maybe the Saudi prince who owns a third of the company. To hear some other people talk, this is "conspiracy" territory now. But c'mon, we're supposed to believe that some nobody henchmen are solely responsible for this and ignore the fact that the Saudis own a third of the company.
      - duxup 7y ago
        >we're supposed to believe that some nobody henchmen are solely responsible for this and ignore the fact that the Saudis own a third of the company Without proof for your second part... yes.
slim 7y ago
je was arrested when MBS came to power in 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-waleed-bin-talal.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/middleeast/saudi-ar... he does not seem to be part of the "saudi intelligence community"