Elon Musk’s X latest to block Saudi dissident accounts inside kingdom
Exclusive: More than 60 accounts on X have been made unavailable in Saudi Arabia, after similar action on Snapchat and Facebook
TL;DR
- X, formerly Twitter, has blocked the accounts of Saudi dissidents within Saudi Arabia, following orders from Saudi authorities.
- This action continues a trend seen earlier this year with platforms like Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram.
- More than 60 accounts on X have been made unavailable in Saudi Arabia through geoblocking since mid-July.
- Affected individuals include prominent activists like Yahya Assiri and Abdullah Alaoudh, as well as academics and independent media.
- Account holders received notifications from X stating that content was withheld to comply with Saudi Arabian local laws.
- Human rights organizations like ALQST are calling for X, Meta, and YouTube to restore access and provide transparency.
- Ghanem al-Masarir, a Saudi satirist, also had two YouTube accounts blocked in the kingdom earlier this year, and his X account was subsequently blocked.