Twitter employees charged with SPYING for Saudi Arabia by ‘snooping on thousands of regime critics’
TWO Twitter employees have been accused of spying for Saudi Arabia by snooping on thousands of the brutal regime's critics.
The secret "Saudi agents" allegedly mined Twitter’s internal systems while working for the social networking service in America, claim officials.
Two ex-Twitter employees and a third man from Saudi Arabia dug up private user data and sold it to Saudi officials, alleges the US Department of Justice.
This includes probing for personal details - the email address and phone number - of a prominent critic of the Saudi royal family in early 2015.
One of the regime's most prominent critics was Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, 59.
Khashoggi - who was also outspoken about Saudi de facto ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman - was chopped into pieces in a horrifying seven-minute execution.
The conflict — which has been raging since 2015 — has been dubbed a "proxy war" among competing powers in the Middle East as a Saudi-led coalition battles rebels backed by Iran, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people.
Plus, they're still horrified at the brutal murder of Khashoggi, who had US residency.
Despite mounting criticism of the regime, US President Donald Trump has stood by the kingdom and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
The royal appears in the spy complaint as "Royal Family Member-1".
Abouammo, who is an American citizen, was arrested in Seattle, Washington while the other two are presumed to be in Saudi Arabia, said justice officials.
He was ordered to remain behind bars pending a detention hearing tomorrow.
Twitter says it's grateful to the FBI and justice officials, as "we recognise the lengths bad actors will go to try and undermine our service."
A spokesman told the Post that Twitter allows "trained and vetted employees" limited access to sensitive account information.