Business Insider revealed that in a lawsuit filed in New York on Twitter, Saudi dissident Ali Al-Ahmad had demanded compensation for a data leak in 2016 that killed a number of activists and arrested others in Saudi Arabia.
The website quoted David Schwartz, the lawyer for the Saudi opposition, that the Saudi authorities had also made attempts to assassinate Al-Ahmad "on multiple occasions," but he did not provide details.
Al-Ahmad, who resides in the United States, said that the incompetence of Twitter led to the death and torture of whistleblowers inside Saudi Arabia.
Al-Ahmad emphasized in the lawsuit that he knew some of the victims who died in Saudi Arabia after their data was revealed, and that a number of them were tortured, while others are still in prison.
Breakthrough operations
The Saudi dissident said that the inefficiency of the Twitter platform allowed for breaches of the accounts of some opposition tweeters, and caused them to reveal their phone numbers and email addresses, which enabled the Saudi authorities to identify them and silence them.
Al-Ahmad's lawyer revealed - in a press release - the lawsuit early last month, in which he held Twitter responsible for the arrest and torture of many of the people who had contact with his client in Saudi Arabia.
Among the victims was Sheikh Abdullah Al-Hamid, the founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, who died in his prison last April.
Last month, the US prosecutor accused Ahmed Abu Ammo and Ali Al-Zubarah, who worked for Twitter between 2013 and 2016, of spying for a foreign government, and charged them with transferring personal information to accounts critical of the Saudi government to the intelligence services in the Kingdom.