Former Twitter employee convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia, faces 10 to 20 years in prison

According to a Bloomberg report, Ahmad Abouammo, a former Twitter employee, was convicted of spying for the Saudi Arabian government. On Tuesday, a San Francisco federal jury handed down its decision convicting Abouammo of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and falsifying records.

Abouammo previously worked as a media partnerships manager at Twitter and assisted prominent figures in the Middle East and North Africa grow their followers. However, he used his position to obtain users' email addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates who were opposed to the Saudi government. Abouammo then passed on this information to Saudis between November of 2014 and May of 2015 in return for gifts.

In 2019, the Department of Justice charged Abouammo and another former Twitter employee, Ali Alzabarah, with espionage. In 2020, the department broadened those charges to include a third person, Ahmed Almutairi, who allegedly oversaw the operation. Both Almutairi and Alzabarah are still sought by the US government. Activist Ali Al-Ahmed sued Twitter last year alleging that the site could have done more to protect his information.

According to news reports, Abouammo is accused of working with a bin Salman family assistant to stifle opposition. Abouammo reportedly said he was just doing his job and that Twitter is to blame for not protecting users' data. When sentenced, Abouammo may face 10 to 20 years in jail. Twitter declined to comment on the matter.