Former Twitter employee has been convicted in the United States of espionage

A former Twitter employee has been convicted of espionage by a federal court in the United States. The man had leaked personal data from anonymous accounts that criticized the Saudi royal family to the Saudi government.

Ahmad Abouammo was a manager at Twitter. He used his position to pass users’ data to the Saudi government. He did this between 2014 and 2015. In exchange for the data, he would have received various rewards, including $300,000, writes Bloomberg. He also promoted accounts of important figures from the Middle East and North Africa.

In addition to espionage, Abouammo is also suspected of fraud, money laundering and falsifying data. It is not yet known what the penalty will be. The former employee could be sentenced to ten to twenty years in prison. Another suspect in the case, who also worked for Twitter, has fled to Saudi Arabia.