Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi dissident who was granted political asylum in Canada, wants to know why his viral hashtag disappeared from Twitter.
The 27-year-old political science student has more than 270,000 followers on Twitter. But some of his Arabic-language hashtags disappeared as soon as they started going viral, he said. Especially the ones criticizing Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammad Bin Salman.
“I created this hashtag about a man who is very close to the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman; his name is Turki Al-Sheikh. This man has been spending lots of money, millions, on very stupid events and concerts in Saudi Arabia," Abdulaziz told Newsweek.
Al-Sheikh is president of the Saudi sports federation and is in charge of organizing many high-profile sporting events in Saudi Arabia. The hashtag roughly translated to #StopalSheikFromWastingTheNationsMoney.
Saudi deputy crown prince and Trump
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with President Donald Trump in March.
REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE
"It had 6,000 tweets in less than 15 minutes," Abdulaziz said. "But then suddenly it was deleted from trends, like it was nothing.”
Social media users in Saudi Arabia took to Twitter to ask why the company had removed the hashtag right after it caught fire—but apparently never got an answer.
Abdulaziz is one of several Saudi dissidents and critics who say their social media posts opposing the Arab nation's leadership have vanished or been targeted by hackers advocating for the Saudi royal family.
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December 22, 2017
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