Saudi Arabia deployed an online army to harass dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and other critics of the kingdom on Twitter, the New York Times reports.
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The efforts to attack Khashoggi and other influential Saudis, and sway public opinion against them on the social media service, included a so-called troll farm based in Riyadh and a suspected spy within Twitter that the kingdom utilised to monitor user accounts, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
Twitter declined to comment. A representative from the Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
Saudi officials said on Saturday that Washington Post columnist Khashoggi died in a fight in its Istanbul consulate. Turkish officials say Khashoggi was assassinated and dismembered by Saudi security forces.
The Times reported Saudi operatives began a social media campaign to harass critics in 2010. Saud al-Qahtani, an adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, created the strategy behind the effort, the newspaper said, citing US and Saudi officials.
Qahtani was one-of-five officials Saudi King Salman has fired, according to Saudi state media, following the global controversy over Khashoggi's disappearance.
Australian Associated Press