Twitter, now referred to as X, is
facing a revised civil lawsuit accusing the company of helping Saudi Arabia commit grave human rights abuses by disclosing confidential user data at the request of the kingdom's authorities.
The lawsuit, initially filed in May, delved into a series of alarming events between 2014 and 2015 when three Saudi agents infiltrated the social media company. Two of these agents pretended to work at the company, leading to
the alleged kidnapping, torture and imprisonment of Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a Saudi aid worker who disappeared and was later sentenced to 20 years in prison, and many anonymous Twitter users. (Related:
Ex-Twitter employee sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for serving as SPY for Saudi Arabia.)
In the revised civil lawsuit, Jim Walden, the lawyer representing Areej al-Sadhan, the sister of Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, includes new allegations against X under the ownership of then-CEO Jack Dorsey.
Based on the allegations, Twitter helped the kingdom suppress its critics by disclosing confidential information about its users due to
the serious financial consideration that it is more important to maintain close ties with the Saudi government, which is a top investor in
the Big Tech company.
"Twitter gave my brother's identifying information to the government of Saudi Arabia, which blatantly violates its terms and conditions," alleged Areej. "As a result, Saudi Arabia kidnapped, imprisoned and – through a sham trial – sentenced my brother to 20 years in prison, simply for criticizing Saudi repression on his Twitter account."
"The Saudi government has since denied him contact with his family or access to his attorney," she continued. "I am not sure if he is alive. After I began to speak out against Saudi repression, my own life became a living hell."