The main Saudi suspect in the 2018 murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi has relaunched his account at social media company X. Elon Musk after he was permanently suspended under the company's previous owner.
Saud al-Qahdani, who was once “directly involved” in the assassination of top adviser Mohammed bin Salman Khashoggi, according to a US intelligence assessment released by the Biden administration in 2021.
The crown prince approved an operation in Turkey that killed a Washington Post columnist who was hacked into the Saudi embassy in Istanbul in October 2018. The U.S. assessment also indicated that the 15-member Saudi team that went to Istanbul to attacking Khashoggi included officials. Center for Saudi Media Studies and Affairs (CSMARC) headed by Qahdani. In that role, he became known as the “Lord of the Flies” – or Twitter bots – among Saudi dissidents.
Qahtani and his deputy Maher Mudreb were cleared by the US Treasury in 2018 for their role in Khashoggi's murder. Qahtani appeared to disappear from public view after being hit by sanctions, but Saudi prosecutors ruled in December 2019 that there was no evidence linking Qahtani to the journalist's murder.
It is unclear why Qahtani's account is active again. Experts speculated that this could be part of a broader effort by Musk to reinstate previously suspended users or an unplanned technical issue.
Saudi Arabia is a major investor in X through its stake in Kingdom Holding, an investment vehicle controlled by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. As of 2011.
The company formerly known as Twitter deactivated Qahtani's account in September 2019, a year after he was reportedly fired as an adviser to the crown prince. A blog post at the time announced that the “permanent” suspension was the result of violating the platform's handling policies. It is part of a broader move to shut down the Saudi “state media apparatus,” which has proliferated pro-Saudi messages on social media.
After his suspension in 2019, Qahtani's account, which had 1.2 million followers, appeared empty and the words “Account suspended” appeared under his name. Now the account is back online, but there are no new posts.
A review of previous tweets shows that the Saudi adviser visited New York in late September 2018, days before Khashoggi was killed.
It is unclear what role Musk played in restoring Qahtani's account. The move comes as the billionaire has played a key role in supporting Republican candidate Donald Trump's candidacy.
“The status quo is that the suspect in the murder of Saudi journalist
Jones said the account could have been recovered due to a technical issue, but said it was difficult to tell if X was “a black box.” He said Musk's quest to restore previously banned users may have gone “global” and that it was reinstated as part of an automated campaign.
“But the Saudis have a big interest in X, so they can use their influence or exert some pressure to get him back and rehabilitate him. [him]. “We're not sure why it came back at the end, but it must have been a strange mistake or glitch,” he said.
An investigation by disinformation experts revealed that a network of 28 pro-Saudi X accounts on DFRLab in 2023 appeared to have coordinated an effort to get Musk to restore Qahtani's account. The investigation found that the mostly anonymous accounts “showed the use of similar text and graphics to promote Qahtani and the kingdom,” as well as content promoting Saudi Arabia, tourism, its role in mediating Ukraine and its celebration of Expo 2030.
Musk has reinstated several previously banned controversial figures, including Marjorie Taylor Green, a US congresswoman, and Trump.
“Restoring the accounts of people who violate the site's policies has allowed malicious actors to take advantage of Twitter's change in leadership to adapt their manipulation tactics, as seen in this case, without fear of consequences,” DFRLab concluded.
X's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
