Saudi regime ‘infiltrated’ Wikipedia, jailed two admins

In a blatant crackdown on Wikipedia admins in the country, Saudi Arabia has reportedly infiltrated Wikipedia and imprisoned two administrators, activists said Thursday. In what is being seen as a clear attempt to control the content on the website, the move comes after a former Twitter worker was jailed by a San Francisco court for “spying” for the Saudis.

However, the Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts the online encyclopedia, has disputed the report.

According to the activists, the administrators have been identified as Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani. While Khalid was jailed for 32 years, Sofiani got an eight-year sentence.
Both the high-ranking “admins” — volunteer administrators with privileged access to Wikipedia, including the ability to edit fully protected pages — have been imprisoned since they were arrested on the same day in September 2020.

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“Wikimedia, the parent body, initiated a probe and found that the Saudi government had penetrated Wikipedia’s highest ranks in the region. Saudi citizens were acting or forced to act as agents in the entire operation,” Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and Beirut-based SMEX said in a joint statement. However, Wikimedia’s latest statement did not make any reference to jail terms reported by DAWN and SMEX, which could not be independently confirmed by AFP.

Washington-headquartered DAWN, founded by slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and SMEX, which promotes digital rights in the Arab world, attributed the information to “whistle-blowers and trusted sources”.

DAWN and SMEX’s statement follows Wikimedia’s announcement last month regarding global bans for 16 users “who were engaging in conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia projects in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region”.

“The arrests of Khalid and al-Sofiani and the infiltration of Wikipedia show a shocking aspect of how the Saudi government wants to control the narrative and Wikipedia,” Abdullah Alaoudh, DAWN’s director of research for the Gulf, told AFP.

Last month, former Twitter worker Ahmad Abouammo was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison by a San Francisco court for being an illegal agent of a foreign government.