Saudi Arabia infiltrated Wikipedia and jailed two administrators who tried to control content on the website, weeks after a former Twitter employee was imprisoned in the US for spying for Saudi Arabia.
According to activists, one administrator was jailed for 32 years, the other for eight years.
An investigation by parent body Wikimedia found that the Saudi government had infiltrated senior Wikipedia officials in the region, with Saudi nationals acting or being forced to act as agents, the two rights groups said.
“The Wikimedia investigation found that the Saudi government has infiltrated the top ranks of the Wikipedia team in the region,” Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn) and Beirut-based Smex said in a joint statement.
Dawn, based in Washington DC and founded by slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and Smex, which promotes digital rights in the Arab world, cited “whistleblowers and reliable sources” for information.
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