McKinsey reportedly helped the Saudi government identify several dissidents, who were then arrested or hacked

Advertisement
McKinsey reportedly helped the Saudi government identify several dissidents, who were then arrested or hacked

Mohammed bin Salman

REUTERS/Amir Levy

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is seen during a meeting with U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. March 27, 2018. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is seen during a meeting with U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. March 27, 2018.

Advertisement
  • The Saudi government targeted and punished several dissidents after the American consultancy firm McKinsey & Company identified them in a report as critics, The New York Times reported.
  • McKinsey reportedly created a nine-page report gauging public response to Saudi austerity measures announced in 2015, and found that three dissidents had a major influence over negative coverage on Twitter.
  • One of the dissidents was arrested, another was hacked and had two brothers arrested, and a third, anonymous user's account was shut down, The Times reported.

Several dissidents were targeted by the Saudi government after a report from the American consultancy firm McKinsey & Company identified them as having a heavy influence over social-media criticisms of Saudi austerity measures, according to The New York Times.

McKinsey reportedly created a nine-page report measuring the public's response to austerity measures announced in 2015, and found that there was twice as much coverage of the measures on Twitter than on other news platforms, and that the coverage was overwhelmingly negative.

The McKinsey report, obtained by The Times, found that three people were particularly influential on Twitter, including Khalid al-Alkami, a writer; Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi critic who lives in Canada; and an anonymous user identified as Ahmad.

Following McKinsey's report, Alkami was reportedly arrested; two of Abdulaziz's brothers were arrested, and the government hacked Abdulaziz's phone; and the Ahmad account was shuttered.

Advertisement

McKinsey did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Saturday.

The news comes amid international uproar over the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whom the Saudi government acknowledged Friday was killed in a consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi had frequently criticized the Saudi government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in his columns.

Khashoggi's death, which the Saudis have said occurred after a physical altercation, has highlighted the Saudi government's attempts to quash dissent and silence critics, and shone a spotlight on the companies and governments who have aided the regime.

{{}}