Former Twitter employee Ahmad Abuammo found guilty of spying for the Saudi government. Jurors delivered their verdict in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, August 9. Abuammo was also convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering and falsifying records.. It is reported by Bloomberg.

Previously, Abuammo worked at Twitter as a media partnerships manager and helped prominent figures from the Middle East and North Africa promote their accounts.. However, he used his position to gain access to the email addresses, phone numbers and birth dates of users who were critical of the Saudi government.. Abuammo then passed this information on to Saudi Arabian officials between November 2014 and May 2015 and was rewarded in return..

In 2019, the US Department of Justice accused Abuammo and another former Twitter employee, Ali Alzabara, of espionage.. The agency later expanded those allegations in 2020 to include a third party, Ahmed Almutairi, who allegedly coordinated the scheme.. Both Almutairi and Alzabara are wanted by the US government. In connection with the criminal activities of the above individuals, human rights activist Ali Al-Ahmed sued Twitter last year, arguing that the platform could have done more to protect his information..

According to Bloomberg, prosecutors accused Abuammo of collaborating with an aide to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to fight dissidents.. Abuammo claims he was just doing his job and accuses Twitter of not protecting user data.

Abuammo now faces 10 to 20 years in prison. Twitter refuses to comment.

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Earlier, Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Joe Biden discussed the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, one of those who actively criticized the Saudi authorities, during a bilateral meeting..