US officials are weighing whether to open a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter as new details emerge about the privileges granted to large foreign investors under the terms of the deal, including Saudi investors.
The Washington Post has raised questions about how much influence Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has been known for decades as among one of the richest Middle East investors, or Prince Mohammed bin Salaman (MBS) may wield in their new relationship with Musk as part of what Alwaleed has publicly said would be a long-term investment in Twitter.
Alarm bells are already ringing on Capitol Hill, where two US senators – Democrat Ron Wyden, who chairs the finance committee, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut – have called for a “thorough vetting” of the Twitter deal on national security grounds.
In a statement, Wyden said: “Given the Saudi regime’s history of jailing critics, planting a spy on Twitter, and brutally murdering a Washington Post journalist, the Saudi regime must be blocked from accessing Twitter account information, direct messages and other data that could be used to identify political opponents or to suppress criticism of the royal family.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on Twitter that the federal government should investigate national security concerns connected to Saudi Arabian entities’ investments in the social media platform. Last week, the American Economic Liberties Project, a left-leaning group, also said in a statement that both CFIUS and the Federal Communications Commission should investigate Musk’s takeover of Twitter given his “potential dependencies on the Chinese government.”
“We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting US politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform,” Murphy said on Twitter.
MBS spies on citizens
Along the same line, the Middle East Eye revealed that a Saudi Arabian man has pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about anonymous social media accounts he allegedly used to harass Saudi dissidents, mostly women, based in the US and Canada.
Ibrahim Alhussayen told the federal court in Brooklyn on 27 October that he had “knowingly and willfully” misled the agents who had asked him on two separate occasions in 2021 and 2022 to identify all of the accounts he used.
“I had other social media accounts that I intentionally did not tell the agents about,” he said, according to a court transcript. One of those accounts, he said, was an Instagram account with the name Samar16490.
“Also during the January 12th, 2022 interview, the agents asked me if I had any accounts other than the ones that I previously disclosed. I falsely stated that I did not.”
He concluded: “What I did was wrong and I’m truly sorry for what I have done.”
Alhussayen struck a plea agreement with prosecutors which could see him serve a maximum of six months in jail. After he serves his sentence, he will be sent back to Saudi Arabia as part of that deal. He is also not to have contact with the alleged victims for three years.
The 42-year-old was arrested by FBI agents in June. An unsealed complaint filed that month in federal court alleged that Alhussayen had used the @samar16490 Instagram account to harass Saudi dissidents, and lied to agents investigating the alleged harassment campaign.
According to the complaint, Alhussayen told FBI agents last year that he worked as an administrative adviser and consultant for the Saudi Royal Court, which is listed as his employer on his student visa, until 2012, but that he was no longer working for the Saudi government when the FBI interviewed him.
During several months of the alleged harassment, the complaint said, he was in regular contact with an employee of the Saudi General Sports Authority, headed by Turki al-Sheikh, a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Growing concerns on social media
A state of anger has prevailed on social media in protest against MBS’ spyware programs targeting opponents at home and abroad.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Awda, Secretary General of the National Assembly Party and the son of the imprisoned preacher Dr. Salman Al-Awda said in a tweet that “Ibrahim Al-Hussein pleads guilty to crimes related to sexual harassment of Saudi female activists and US activists, pointing to his close link with a senior sports official (believed to be Turki Al-Sheikh).
