A key Saudi suspect in the 2018 murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi has had his account at X, the social media company controlled by Elon Musk, reinstated after it was permanently suspended under the company’s previous owner.
Saud al-Qahtani, a former key adviser to Mohammed bin Salman, had “direct involvement” in Khashoggi’s murder. according to a US intelligence assessment released by the Biden administration in 2021.
It found that the crown prince had approved the gray operation in Turkey that killed the Washington Post columnist, who was dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. The US assessment also noted that the 15-member Saudi team that traveled to Istanbul Among Khashoggi’s targets were officials working for the Saudi Media Studies and Affairs Center (CSMARC), which Qahtani headed. In that role, Saudi dissidents referred to him as the “lord of the flies” – or Twitter bots.
Qahtani and his subordinate, Maher Mutreb, were sanctioned by the US treasury in 2018 for their involvement in Khashoggi’s murder. Qahtani appeared to disappear from public view after receiving the sanctions, but Saudi prosecutors ruled in December 2019 that he had no evidence linking Qahtani to the journalist’s murder.
It is unclear why Qahtani’s account is active again. Experts speculated that it could be part of a broader attempt by Musk to reinstate users who were previously suspended, or simply an unintentional glitch.
Saudi Arabia is a key investor in X through its stake in Kingdom Holding, the investment vehicle controlled by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whose investment in the platform dates back to 2011.
The company that was formerly known as Twitter suspended Qahtani’s account in September 2019about a year after he was reportedly fired from his role as adviser to the crown prince. He announced in a blog post at the time that the “permanent” suspension was the result of violations of the platform’s tampering policies. It was part of a broader move to shut down Saudi Arabia’s “state media apparatus,” which amplified pro-Saudi messages on social media.
After his suspension in 2019, Qahtani’s account, which had 1.2 million followers, appeared blank and the words “account suspended” appeared below his handle. Now the account is back online, although there are no new posts.
A review of previous tweets shows that the Saudi adviser was visiting New York in late September 2018, days before Khashoggi’s murder.
It’s unclear what role, if any, Musk played in reinstating Qahtani’s account. The move comes at a time when the billionaire has played a key role in supporting Republican candidate Donald Trump’s candidacy.
“It is a revealing accusation of the current state of have your account restored,” said Marc Owen Jones.
Jones said it was possible the account had been reset due to a technical issue, but said X was “such a black box” it was hard to tell. He said it was possible that Musk’s quest to reinstate previously banned users has gone “global” and has been reinstated as part of an automated campaign.
“But the Saudis have a big stake in X, so they could use their influence or there could be some pressure to bring him back and rehabilitate him. “Ultimately, we don’t know for sure why it’s back, but it would be a strange bug or glitch,” he said.
A investigation by disinformation experts at DFRLab in 2023 found that a network of 28 pro-Saudi X accounts appeared to be coordinating an attempt to get Musk to reinstate Qahtani’s account. The investigation found that the mostly anonymous accounts “showed a pattern of using 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 organization of Expo 2030.
Musk has reinstated several controversial figures who had previously been banned, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, the US congresswoman, and Trump.
“Restoring the accounts of people who violated the platform’s policies has allowed malicious actors to take advantage of the change in Twitter 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.
