4 ms·

A Saudi Prince's Attempt to Silence Critics on Twitter (2020)

148 points by ioab 6y ago

baybal2 6y ago
> his position at the company did allow him access to the private information of many users, including their phone numbers Yep, and this is after them for years claiming "not using" your phone number after alleged "verification" until EU forced them to admit they were lying.
- ttt0 6y ago
  Good to know. I was recently wondering if I'm not being too protective about my phone number, but apparently not giving it away to the likes of Twitter was the right call.
  - dudul 6y ago
    Note that I believe it is now impossible to sign up for twitter without giving away your phone number.
    - MereInterest 6y ago
      As of a few months ago, it is possible to make an account, but it cannot use the API unless you give a phone number. Since that is what I wanted to try out, I backed off after learning that and so I don't know if there are any other limitations.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - ttt0 6y ago
      Last time I checked it was possible, but they will lock your account after a day or so until you verify the account with your phone number.
      - dudul 6y ago
        I checked just before writing my message and phone verification was required before even picking a username and password.
baybal2 6y ago
> In May 2017, President Donald Trump made his first overseas visit, a trip to Riyadh. Not long after his arrival, the president toured King Salman’s new anti-terrorism center, which focused on tracking extremists on Twitter. Afterward, the president, his wife, the king, and Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt gathered around an illuminated orb at the center of the room and posed for a photo. Standing just outside the frame was the kingdom’s new social media specialist, Ali Alzabarah. https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/257/584/509.jpg_large https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/257/584/509...
- jonny383 6y ago
  Alongside another 100+ people. This is a nothing-burger.
- obtino 6y ago
  Is this the same guy who's now on the FBI's wanted list?
- hellbannedguy 6y ago
  What is that orb?
  - baybal2 6y ago
    I guess, you can buy one from https://www.palantir.com/ https://www.palantir.com/
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  I'm not really sure what the article is going for with this sign-off. The Saudi government hired a spy, he did good work, and when his cover was blown they gave him a domestic job related to his work. And? That sounds like exactly what you'd expect on all sides.
  - newacct583 6y ago
    Yes, but the context is that the government that hired the spy is the same one we now admit had an inconvenient journalist murdered. It's certainly true that this bit of espionage was more or less routine, but it's evidence that Saudi espionage against US interests was not a one-off thing.
sumedh 6y ago
> Twitter lawyers brought Alzabarah in the following afternoon, accused him of improperly accessing user accounts I guess I have to side with the FBI on this one. There was no reason for Twitter to contact the employee, they could have seen what the employee was doing by accessing all these Saudi profiles and then giving the benefit of the doubt to the FBI.
worker767424 6y ago
In related news, the US seems fine with bombing Iran-backed militias in Syria, but when news about MBS OK-ing the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi came out, crickets.
- bogomipz 6y ago
  From yesterday: https://www.axios.com/khashoggi-report-365166be-7092-483c-b739-411193a91d2a.html https://www.axios.com/khashoggi-report-365166be-7092-483c-b7...
- esturk 6y ago
  Seems like they decided to release it on a Friday so the outrage is minimized. But why did the Biden administration bother to release the report at all?
- Waterluvian 6y ago
  Maybe give it a few days before you're frustrated there isn't enough killing going on. I bet the US can surprise you yet. I bet you sanctions and whatnot are coming next week, at the very least.
  - bigmattystyles 6y ago
    Really? I’d be surprised. I know they imposed some sanctions on individuals from traveling to the US but that was it and none were imposed on MBS.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      > I know they imposed some sanctions on individuals from traveling to the US but that was it No, it was sanctions (asset freeze, bans on US entities doing business with them) plus visa bans prohibiting them from entering the US, not just “sanctions from traveling to the US”. > and none were imposed on MBS. That's pretty consistent with what the US in other cases, short of imminent war situations, the US tends not to directly sanction top leaders directly, sanctioning subordinates and particular state institutions.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
mwest 6y ago
I recently managed to watch Fogel's _The Dissident_. The Twitter manipulation campaign that's covered in the movie was fascinating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dissident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dissident It's on Apple TV. It's a shame that Netflix appeared too nervous of the backlash to run it.
dang 6y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24342948 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24342948 - Sept 2020 (96 comments)

148 points by ioab 6y ago

> his position at the company did allow him access to the private information of many users, including their phone numbers Yep, and this is after them for years claiming "not using" your phone number after alleged "verification" until EU forced them to admit they were lying.

ttt0 6y ago
Good to know. I was recently wondering if I'm not being too protective about my phone number, but apparently not giving it away to the likes of Twitter was the right call.
- dudul 6y ago
  Note that I believe it is now impossible to sign up for twitter without giving away your phone number.
  - MereInterest 6y ago
    As of a few months ago, it is possible to make an account, but it cannot use the API unless you give a phone number. Since that is what I wanted to try out, I backed off after learning that and so I don't know if there are any other limitations.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - ttt0 6y ago
    Last time I checked it was possible, but they will lock your account after a day or so until you verify the account with your phone number.
    - dudul 6y ago
      I checked just before writing my message and phone verification was required before even picking a username and password.

baybal2 6y ago

> In May 2017, President Donald Trump made his first overseas visit, a trip to Riyadh. Not long after his arrival, the president toured King Salman’s new anti-terrorism center, which focused on tracking extremists on Twitter. Afterward, the president, his wife, the king, and Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt gathered around an illuminated orb at the center of the room and posed for a photo. Standing just outside the frame was the kingdom’s new social media specialist, Ali Alzabarah. https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/257/584/509.jpg_large https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/257/584/509...

jonny383 6y ago
Alongside another 100+ people. This is a nothing-burger.
obtino 6y ago
Is this the same guy who's now on the FBI's wanted list?
hellbannedguy 6y ago
What is that orb?
- baybal2 6y ago
  I guess, you can buy one from https://www.palantir.com/ https://www.palantir.com/
thaumasiotes 6y ago
I'm not really sure what the article is going for with this sign-off. The Saudi government hired a spy, he did good work, and when his cover was blown they gave him a domestic job related to his work. And? That sounds like exactly what you'd expect on all sides.
- newacct583 6y ago
  Yes, but the context is that the government that hired the spy is the same one we now admit had an inconvenient journalist murdered. It's certainly true that this bit of espionage was more or less routine, but it's evidence that Saudi espionage against US interests was not a one-off thing.

sumedh 6y ago

> Twitter lawyers brought Alzabarah in the following afternoon, accused him of improperly accessing user accounts I guess I have to side with the FBI on this one. There was no reason for Twitter to contact the employee, they could have seen what the employee was doing by accessing all these Saudi profiles and then giving the benefit of the doubt to the FBI.

worker767424 6y ago

In related news, the US seems fine with bombing Iran-backed militias in Syria, but when news about MBS OK-ing the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi came out, crickets.

bogomipz 6y ago
From yesterday: https://www.axios.com/khashoggi-report-365166be-7092-483c-b739-411193a91d2a.html https://www.axios.com/khashoggi-report-365166be-7092-483c-b7...
esturk 6y ago
Seems like they decided to release it on a Friday so the outrage is minimized. But why did the Biden administration bother to release the report at all?
Waterluvian 6y ago
Maybe give it a few days before you're frustrated there isn't enough killing going on. I bet the US can surprise you yet. I bet you sanctions and whatnot are coming next week, at the very least.
- bigmattystyles 6y ago
  Really? I’d be surprised. I know they imposed some sanctions on individuals from traveling to the US but that was it and none were imposed on MBS.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > I know they imposed some sanctions on individuals from traveling to the US but that was it No, it was sanctions (asset freeze, bans on US entities doing business with them) plus visa bans prohibiting them from entering the US, not just “sanctions from traveling to the US”. > and none were imposed on MBS. That's pretty consistent with what the US in other cases, short of imminent war situations, the US tends not to directly sanction top leaders directly, sanctioning subordinates and particular state institutions.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

mwest 6y ago

I recently managed to watch Fogel's _The Dissident_. The Twitter manipulation campaign that's covered in the movie was fascinating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dissident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dissident It's on Apple TV. It's a shame that Netflix appeared too nervous of the backlash to run it.

dang 6y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24342948 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24342948 - Sept 2020 (96 comments)