AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): As is typical with any regional development, Saudi authorities, fearing the impact of these developments on domestic public opinion, have intensified their control and increased strict measures against opponents and activists, especially in the digital space where opponents outside Saudi Arabia are extensively active.
According to a report by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, Saudi Arabia is also utilizing its relationships with companies active in the field of social media to block accounts it disapproves of under various titles and pretexts.
In this context, Saudi Arabia announced on August 20 that it had blocked 1,275 channels on the Telegram application. This action was taken as part of efforts by the Saudi-affiliated "Moderation" center, established in May 2017 with the participation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and then-U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term.
According to Saudi opponents, including Nasser al-Qarni, who spoke through "Radio 98," this center is continuously trying to impose a new Islam aligned with the United States and the Zionist regime. According to him, this process is being pursued simultaneously with changes to Saudi curricula and the removal of content related to the Palestinian cause and its defense, an action that, according to a study by the Zionist institute IMPACT-SE, aligns with calls for normalization of relations with the Zionist regime.
According to this radio's report, broadcast via YouTube, the goal of "Moderation" is to impose an American-Zionist definition of Islam by destroying religious symbols and models, targeting scholars, preachers, and educators, marginalizing the value system, cooperating with the Zionist regime on one hand, and demonizing Palestinian resistance on the other.
New Wave of Opponents' Account Suspensions
In this regard, in the final third of August, a new wave of repressive measures was launched against accounts active on both YouTube and X platforms. This was a continuation of the previous wave, which had targeted not only Saudi activists and opponents but also other Arab activists.
A number of these individuals, as well as human rights organizations, announced that their accounts had been suspended or closed without prior notice, and their content had been blocked from broadcast within Saudi Arabia.
Among the suspended accounts are the "Al-Qist for Human Rights" organization, the "Hejazyat" channel, and the accounts of opponents such as Yahya al-Asiri, Nasser al-Ghamdi, and university professor Mariam al-Dossary.
These measures were met with widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
"Al-Qist Organization" announced that the action of social media networks YouTube and X in blocking the organization's account indicates collusion with Saudi Arabia to target organizations and activists outside the country who defend human rights and democracy in Saudi Arabia and across the region.
The "European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights" also emphasized that this wave of repression is the most severe of its kind and has been carried out at the request of Saudi officials.
The organization added that such actions are in fact a continuation of the restrictions imposed on freedom of expression and opinion within Saudi Arabia in the digital space, and deprive people of access to independent and critical information.
According to this organization, this campaign began in April on X, Facebook, and Instagram platforms, and has now spread to YouTube.
Accusations Against Blocked Accounts
While the Saudi government, through Mosaed al-Ayban, head of the Cybersecurity Authority and a member of the Council of Ministers and the Security Affairs Council, has confirmed the blocking of more than 150 accounts of opponents of the Saudi government on social media, the "Darawish" platform announced that the accusations against the blocked accounts include titles such as opposing the Saudi Crown Prince, opposing Saudi Vision 2030, being affiliated with or supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, and hating Westerners.
This platform also claimed that one of the tasks assigned to al-Ayban is electronic espionage against Saudi citizens both inside and outside the country and hacking their accounts using technologies from the Zionist regime.
On the other hand, the "European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights" warned that the content published on the newly established "Marsad" account, which, at the request of Saudi Arabia's Communications Authority, is responsible for blocking accounts, is concerning. Because the list of blocked accounts includes human rights organizations, human rights defenders, and journalists who have raised criticisms about policies and human rights violations in Saudi Arabia.
Opponents' Efforts to Return to Cyberspace
Meanwhile, a number of account holders whose accounts were blocked attempted to create new pages. Dozens of them also published the notices they had received, which, according to them, documented Saudi Arabia's formal requests for blocking their accounts.
They emphasized that the closure of opposition channels was carried out in response to Riyadh's request and within the framework of a repression campaign that the Saudi Crown Prince is leading to silence dissenting voices. Voices that have become a growing concern for him, especially in light of regional developments and dissatisfaction arising from the Gulf countries being under the American umbrella, which according to them, has not proven its effectiveness in any case.
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